Degrees of Fiction: External Examining, Grade Inflation and the Honours System

Degrees of Fiction: External Examining, Grade Inflation and the Honours System

Katie Akerman, Director of Quality and Standards, University of Chichester

Spiralling grade inflation (Office for Students, 2018), the way that degrees are classified is a rotten system (Peter Williams, then-Chief Executive, QAA, 2008) and significant doubt that external examiners hold shared academic standards (AdvanceHE, 2015) tell a story of doubt – doubt in the ability of the UK’s higher education sector to manage academic standards. Is the start of the story our own assessment practice? And what is the end of the story?

Katie is Director of Quality and Standards at the University of Chichester. Her career in higher education started 23 years ago at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and she has worked at the universities of Southampton, Winchester and Bath Spa, as well as for the Quality Assurance Agency. Katie is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators. Katie was a member of the QAA writing group for the section of the QAA’s Quality Code on external expertise, and a member of the QAA expert advisory group with responsibility for developing the external examining principles and also the Outcome classification descriptions for FHEQ Level 6.