The system for marking degrees as first, 2:1, 2:2 or third has reached the end of its sell-by date, an influential committee of MPs was told yesterday.

Students receive widely varying degrees depending on their university and subject, according to the head of an education watchdog.

In response, the chairman of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee said the degree classification system was “descending into farce”.

Peter Williams, the chief executive of the Quality Assurance Agency(QAA), which regulates quality in higher education, said there was currently no way of ensuring equal standards between universities.

He said there were 118 awarding bodies which had approval to award their own degrees, and that there was “no evidence of consistency between subjects in institutions and between institutions”.

Mr Williams told the Commons committee that the current system had been designed for the “smaller higher education world”.

He said: “It has reached the end of its display-by date and is pretty much at the end of its use-by date,” later adding that there was a need for a change to the system as it was no longer fit for purpose.

However he insisted there was a “specific question” about how achievement was recorded, and not about the higher education system in general, which he believed was still “solid, robust and good.”

MPs were questioning Mr Williams because of ongoing concerns about the validity of the way in which degrees are assessed.

The number of students achieving a first class degree has more than doubled in the last decade.

Mr Willis, chairman of the committee, said: “This has descended into farce. It goes right to the heart of what we’re talking about.

“You’re saying a university can award as many firsts as it wants as long as it satisfies their own criteria of what a first means.”

He said confidence in the degree classification system was important as it was depended upon by most employers, and students seeking jobs.

Diana Warwick, the chief executive of Universities UK which represents vice-chancellors, said universities had recognised that the degrees classification systems had “reached the end of its ’display-by’ date”.

She said 20 institutions would conduct trials of a new system of classifying attainment, the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) from November.

She added: “But while we’re publicly debating how students’ achievements can best be recorded, it’s important to be clear that the UK honours degree itself is a robust and highly valued qualification.

“While universities award their own degrees, all degree courses across the UK are based on a common set of definitions of qualifications, and descriptions of how standards apply in particular subjects.”

Rob Wilson, the Shadow Universities Minister, said: “There is no doubt that the current degree classification system needs updating.

“We need more information to be provided when degrees are awarded so that employers are better able to assess graduates’ abilities.”

A report last month by the QAA described the current system of degree classification as “arbitrary and unreliable”.

It also found weaknesses in the arrangements of some institutions for detecting and dealing with plagiarism and for providing feedback on students’

Prof Geoffrey Alderman, a leading academic, claimed recently that degree standards were slipping because lecturers were under pressure to “mark positively” and turn a blind eye to plagiarism.

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