University College London will stop using traditional degree classifications and instead adopt an American-style “grade point average” (GPA), which gives undergraduate students a score based on all the courses they have taken. This is due to “award inflation” in UK universities in the past decade or so. Official figures show that the number of students getting a first or upper-second class degree in 2010 doubles the number a decade ago. Malcolm Grant, the Provost of UCL, commented that the UK system was not well recognized around the world and that the honours degree classification was no longer capable of providing the information that students deserve and employers require. A form of grade point average would ensure that the students’ mode of study be internationally recognized.
