GRADUATING WITH a good degree is suddenly even more important than you might think. A survey of employers published by gradireland this year found that almost 60 per cent of them are expecting their applicants to have a 2.1 or higher in their degree.

Just to put that expectation into context, just two years ago, 38 per cent of employers were expecting similar grades.

The heat is on for the graduating class of 2013 and a good degree is no longer good enough. These days, graduates applying for a trainee management post with Aldi, for example, must have a minimum 2.1 qualification. Many school principals will not entertain applications for teaching post unless the candidate has a 2.1 or better.

But is a good degree “easier” to secure in some colleges than others?

An Irish Times analysis of primary degrees awarded over the past seven years shows DCU students getting the highest proportion of first-class honours degrees, with an average of 19 per cent managing to score top marks.

TCD and UCC awarded the highest proportion of first-class honours last year with 18 per cent of the graduating classes in those colleges achieving the top accolade.

But is this a good thing? With issues such as grade inflation cropping up on the education agenda, are students better off in a college at the other end of the spectrum where first-class honours are rarer?

Less than 14 per cent of NUIG’s students have graduated with a first-class honours degree over the seven years.

UL has a similar proportion of firsts with just over 14 per cent. Both of these universities incidentally have been relatively consistent in their marking over the seven years surveyed.

While the grades situation varies quite considerably within different institutions, the national averages are interesting. It’s sobering to think that in theory, many employers would disregard more than a third of the students who graduated over the surveyed period because they did not manage to achieve the required 2.1 or higher.

Overall, 47 per cent of students who graduated from the seven universities between 2005 and 2011 left with a 2.1 degree. An average of 16 per cent managed to get first-class honours over the same period.

Less common are 2.2 degrees, with just over a quarter (26 per cent) of students graduating with that mark while a further 10 per cent of graduates left college with a pass or third-class honours degree.

The survey looked only at students who actually graduated. Every year, a certain percentage of students do not graduate for a variety of reasons including noncompletion of their degree, or failure. However, those numbers are small and each institution records the information differently, so for the purposes of this survey, that information was not examined.

Medicine, dentistry and veterinary students are subject to a different marking system. There are no 2.1s or 2.2s, just undivided 2nd-class honours. We have included these grades in with the 2.1 degrees awarded. Likewise, students who received third-class honours have been included in the pass category. We have adjusted the figures for UCD, UCC, TCD and NUIG in this way.

DCU

DCU awarded the highest proportion – 19 per cent – of first-class honours in the seven years between 2005 and 2011.

However, the rate of firsts has fallen substantially since 2005, when 25 per cent of students received the top grade.

Last year that proportion had fallen to 17 per cent, just one percentage point above the national average of 16 per cent.

That said, the number of 2.1s has risen over the years. In 2005 just 38 per cent of students were awarded a 2.1 but since then, that proportion has risen steadily, hitting a massive 57 per cent this year, far above the national average of 47 per cent.

The proportion of lower second-class honours degrees has remained reasonably steady although there has been a slight fall from 25 per cent in 2005 to 21 per cent. The seven-year proportion of 2.2s from DCU is, at 24 per cent, below the national average of 26 per cent.

Five per cent of students graduated with a third class or pass degree.

NUI Galway

NUIG doesn’t hand out first-class honours easily and it’s the college with the lowest average proportion of top degrees awarded over the seven years, with an average of just below 14 per cent, in comparison to the national average of 16 per cent.

Grading has been more consistent in NUIG than in some other universities with firsts peaking at 16 per cent in 2007 and dropping to a low of 12 per cent in 2012. Last year 14 per cent of students managed a first.

This year’s 2.1 rate of 48 per cent is the highest of the past seven years. Again, the marking is quite consistent at this level and the average proportion of 2.1s awarded over the seven years is 43 per cent.

The rate of second-class honours was quite high this year at 32 per cent. The average for the seven years stands at 23 per cent. The proportion of second-class honours has risen over the years. It was 19 per cent in 2005 but has gone up, particularly in the years since 2009.

The proportion of students graduating with a pass degree dropped considerably last year from 20 per cent in 2010 to just 7 per cent in 2011.

NUI Maynooth

Although NUIM’s average rate of first-class honours degrees is close to the national average at 15 per cent, it has become increasingly difficult to gain a first there.

Last year, 12 per cent of students managed to graduate with top marks but this proportion has been falling steadily since 2005 when 18 per cent managed the same feat.

Upper second-class honours were up on last year, with half of students making that grade. NUIM’s 2.1 rate over the seven years is just below the national average of 47 per cent. The rate of 2.1s has fluctuated from year to year. It was at its lowest (41 per cent) in 2007 but that was down from the seven-year high of 52 per cent in the year before. Since then, there has been a steady rise in the number of 2.1s.

The proportion of students getting a 2.2 is 34 per cent, well above average, but only 5 per cent of students graduated with a pass or third-class honours degree, which is well below the national average.

TCD

At TCD, 58 per cent of students graduating last year left with a 2.1 degree. This is 11 per cent higher than the national average of 47 per cent but not as high as the 61 per cent of students who got a 2.1 in 2005.

TCD’s average over the seven years is lower at 56 per cent but it’s still very high indeed.

TCD, along with UCC awarded the highest proportion of first-class honours last year with 18 per cent of students managing to achieve the top award. The proportion of firsts awarded has been reasonably steady over the years, peaking at 20 per cent in 2009 after a low of 16 per cent in the three preceding years.

Last year, one-fifth of TCD students graduated with a 2.2 degree. The seven-year average is 22 per cent.

Third-class honours and pass degrees made up 8 per cent of graduate degrees, slightly below the national average of 10 per cent.

UCC

UCC awarded the joint highest proportion of first-class honours degrees to its graduating students last year, with 18 per cent of students leaving with top honours. Its overall rate of firsts is also 18 per cent which is higher than average.

The proportion of 2.1 awards has fallen slightly from a high of 53 per cent in 2006, as 48 per cent of last year’s class graduated with a 2.1. With a seven-year average of 51 per cent, UCC’s 2.1 rate is above the national average.

A quarter of students gained a 2.2 degree – a reasonably consistent figure. The seven-year average of 2.2s is 24 per cent, below the national average of 26 per cent.

Eight per cent of graduates left with a pass degree or third-class honours, again just below the national average.

UCD

It has become more difficult to gain first-class honours from UCD with 12 per cent of graduates managing that feat last year. That’s down from a 19 per cent peak in 2009. The drop may have something to do with the modularisation of courses. UCD’s seven-year average of firsts awarded is 15 per cent, marginally below the national average of 16 per cent.

Meanwhile 53 per cent of UCD’s students graduated with a 2.1 last year, an increase of 7 per cent since 2005. The university has a seven-year average of 49 percent – above the national average. A reasonably high 31 per cent of student graduated with 2.2 degrees. UCD’s seven-year average of 27 per cent is only marginally above the national average.

Just 4 per cent of students left with a pass.

UL

UL has quite a consistent marking record over the past seven years. The proportions of firsts, 2.1s and 2.2s have remained reasonably stable since 2005. Last year, 12 per cent of students graduated with first-class honours, a little below its seven-year average of 14 per cent. This is slightly below the national average.

Last year, 36 per cent of graduates left with a 2.1. UL’s seven-year average of 2.1s is also 36 per cent – the lowest of the universities. The proportion of students graduating with a 2.2 over the time period is 35 per cent – well above the national average. Last year, a relatively large 38 per cent of graduates earned a 2.2 degree. Pass degrees made up 14 per cent of the total while the overall average was 15 per cent for the seven years.

Degrees: who gets what?

16 per centsecured a first-class honours degree

47 per centof students gained a 2.1 degree

26 per centsecured a 2.2

10 per centof graduates left college with a pass or third-class honours degree

*Based on results between 2005 and 2011