If I were graduating today, I would be acutely aware that around one third of students now leave university with a first class degree. Fifteen years ago it was closer to one in ten. Go back further and it was rarer still. Grade inflation is real, and it matters.
A first is no longer a signal of exceptional ability. It is closer to a requirement. That changes how students should think about university. Idealism is a luxury most cannot afford.
The uncomfortable truth is that once you graduate, the job you do often has little to do with the degree you studied, even when it is notionally related. Real life quickly overtakes academic theory. Employers care about capability, judgement and experience. But at the point of graduation, they still screen on grades.
Most degrees are modular. You choose from a menu. My advice to students is simple. Be ruthlessly pragmatic. Do not choose modules because they sound the most intellectually pure. Choose modules you believe you will perform best in. Choose courses where the assessment is fair, the marking consistent and the incentives clear.
When I studied law, some classmates gravitated towards the most complex subjects. I chose a course on politics in the City of London and the evolution of business over centuries. It was practical, well taught and assessed sensibly. It was also derided by some as less serious. That did not matter. It helped me secure a first.
That first opened doors. Many of those doors are still open today. The irony is that almost none of what I studied is directly relevant now. The learning since university dwarfs it. But the signal the grade sent at the time was decisive.
University is not an abstract pursuit. For most people, it is about employment. Ten or fifteen years after graduating, no one will care which modules you took. They will care about what you have done since. But early on, the grade matters far more than students like to admit.
So be strategic. Maximise your chances and don’t be naive. Give yourself every advantage you can in the intense graduate market.
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