Multilevel analysis of relationship between entry qualifications and trends in degree classifications in mathematical sciences: 1994-2000.

There has been growing concern about the mathematical skills and understanding of undergraduates entering higher education to study mathematical sciences. In spite of this, as in other disciplines, the classifications of degrees awarded in mathematical sciences have risen. The research described here uses statistical analyses of data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency to study the relationships between the classifications of degree awards in mathematical sciences from 1994/5 to 1999/2000 and the entry qualifications and other characteristics of the 22,433 graduates with UK domicile who received these awards. The results show that although there have been statistically significant changes in degree classifications during the period covered by the data, in statistical terms, these changes are explained, by the increasingly high grades achieved before entering higher education by students graduating in successive years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]