ABSTRACT
In the United Kingdom, all first degrees are, in principle at least, of comparable standard. Perusal of official and often ancient documents, which regulate universities, leaves little doubt that this notion of parity is deeply ingrained in British higher education. For instance, a passage from the 1843 University of Durham Calendar asserts: The standing of the degree of B.A., as for all other degrees, is the same as that which is required at Oxford’. The reference to a national system is revealing because constitutionally no such system exists: each university is a discrete and autonomous entity, awarding its own degrees under a charter from the Crown. Certainly the higher-education examination system is premised upon the assumption that examiners can make consistent judgements over time and one of the more intriguing questions is why there is such a contrast between the experimental evidence produced by psychologists and the experience reported from the field by practitioners.
