Open Data

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

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

Data obtained via Freedom of Information requests reveals significant disparities in undergraduate academic performance across various disciplines and years. Physics and English lead in overall attainment, while foundation year modules and Japanese trail significantly behind. This transparency highlights how different departments and specific modules create vastly different student outcomes, suggesting that external factors like exam types or cohort size influence these results. Performance gaps persist at the individual module level, with first-year art and second-year Russian language courses seeing no first-class grades, contrasting sharply with business and classics modules where the majority of students achieved top marks. In higher years, logic and philosophy modules demonstrate exceptional success rates for final-year students, whereas subjects like medieval theology show lower averages. These findings underscore the variability in grading standards and student success depending on the specific course chosen, rather than just the department. This analysis is crucial for open data as it demonstrates the value of transparency in education. By making specific attainment metrics publicly available, stakeholders can scrutinize institutional performance and identify systemic inequities. Such access empowers students to make informed choices and holds universities accountable for their grading practices. Ultimately, open datasets like these foster public trust and enable deeper discussions about fairness and quality assurance in higher education without relying on opaque internal reports.

Source: palatinate.org.uk
Published on 2025-12-22

Related news