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

This article demonstrates the power of open data and freedom of information requests in democratizing access to institutional performance metrics. By utilizing FOI datasets, researchers and students can uncover specific patterns in academic achievement that are otherwise hidden within complex university records. This transparency allows for a deeper understanding of how different disciplines and modules perform, challenging the notion that such data remains exclusively the domain of administration. The analysis reveals significant disparities in attainment across various subjects and academic years. Physics and English demonstrated the highest overall performance, while foundation years and modern foreign languages like Japanese showed lower outcomes. Furthermore, individual module performance varied drastically, ranging from perfect first-class grades in niche subjects to zero firsts in others. These findings highlight that attainment is not uniform, even within the same degree program, suggesting that specific teaching methods, assessment types, or student demographics may heavily influence results. This case is highly relevant to the open_data community as it illustrates how accessible public records can drive accountability and informed decision-making in higher education. It shows that with the right tools and legal frameworks, stakeholders can move beyond general university rankings to examine granular, module-level success rates. Such data empowers prospective students to make better choices and encourages institutions to reflect on their pedagogical effectiveness. Ultimately, it proves that open data can transform opaque academic statistics into actionable insights for the public good.

Source: palatinate.org.uk
Published on 2025-07-24

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

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