A general review of degree classifications is underway

Contingency measures were in place to cope with the assessment boycott during the lecturers' pay dispute.

The university says it has every confidence in these measures, but union leaders are concerned about standards.

Meanwhile the quality watchdog for higher education has said there is no comparability between degrees in different institutions or subjects.

Attempts by individuals with strong views about the strike to discredit the hard work of individual students must be resisted by all who care about education Drummond Bone Liverpool University vice-chancellor

A number of universities adapted their assessment and degree-awarding practices to cope with the industrial action in the lecturers' dispute, which ended in June.

Figures obtained by the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) show that, at Liverpool - one of the UK's most prestigious universities - the average rise in top grades masked much greater increases in certain subjects, and in the proportion of firsts awarded.

An internal analysis of degree results by Liverpool's history staff showed that 23 students in that department obtained firsts this year who would not have done so under the previous system.

The proportion receiving firsts rose from 7% in 2005 to almost 18% in 2006, the THES reported.

The main effect of the changes was that any student with borderline marks would automatically receive a higher grade.

'Bad blood'

Liverpool's vice-chancellor, Drummond Bone - who is also the current president of the umbrella group Universities UK - said the university had every confidence in its procedures.

"Attempts by individuals with strong views about the strike to discredit the hard work of individual students must be resisted by all who care about education.

"We need to move on from the bad blood created by the strike."

But the joint general secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, said: "We said at the time that universities ran the risk of compromising their own, and Britain's, standing in the academic world with hastily cooked-up contingency plans.

"I will be extremely concerned if it does come to light that some institutions did not bother to wait for the full marks to become available before awarding degrees, and I am sure that students, their parents and anyone with an interest in academe will share my concerns."

'Unfairness'

The watchdog Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education audits institutions on a rolling timetable.

Its spokesperson said it was down to individual institutions to check the quality of their degree awards and it was not making any special inquiry into the 2006 results.

It has however just published a background briefing to assist the ongoing Burgess inquiry into the degree classification system in England.

This sets out starkly what has long been thought - that there is no comparability between degrees awarded by different UK universities, or even between different subjects within the same university.

It says it cannot be assumed that similar academic standards will have been achieved by

• students with the same degree from different institutions having studied different subjects
• students with the same degree from a particular institution having studied different subjects
• students with the same degree from different institutions having studied the same subject
• students with the same degree at different times from the same or different institutions.

"They are of long standing, and many of those who make use of degree classifications couple this information with their judgement and experience when employing graduates, or recommending awards for further study, or determining salaries."

The agency adds: "It can be argued that, within a particular subject, the use of different rules by different institutions has the potential to result in unfairness."