Revealed: Durham modules ranked by student attainment in 2021-2022 - Palatinate

Freedom of Information requests have unlocked detailed academic performance data, revealing significant disparities in student attainment across various departments and modules. The analysis highlights that physics and English lead in overall achievement, while foundation years and specific language courses struggle with lower averages. This transparency allows for a clearer understanding of how different disciplines and year levels impact grading outcomes, moving beyond simple rankings to expose the structural realities of academic assessment. The data demonstrates that success is not uniform, with certain first-year design and second-year language modules showing notably low award rates for top grades. Conversely, specialized topics in classics and philosophy consistently produce high percentages of first-class honors. These variations suggest that module design, subject matter, and student background heavily influence results, indicating that standardized grading expectations may not apply equally across the diverse curriculum offered by the institution. This report is crucial for the open_data movement as it proves that publicly accessible administrative records can drive meaningful institutional accountability. By making granular educational statistics available to students and the public, universities are pressured to justify their grading standards and support systems. Such transparency empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions about their education and encourages institutions to address inequities in academic outcomes through data-driven policy changes.

Source: palatinate.org.uk
Published on 2025-07-08

Revealed: Durham modules ranked by student attainment in 2021-2022 - Palatinate

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