THE University of Central Lancashire has more than doubled the amount of firsts it hands out, new research has revealed.

In 2015/16, the Preston-based university handed out 22 per cent of first-class degrees - 12.1 per cent up from 2010/11.

The results are inline with the overall trend, with a third of institutions now grading at least one in four degrees with the top honour.

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts ranked highest with an improvement of 22.3 per cent.

With students now paying up to £9,250 a year in tuition fees, almost all universities and colleges are giving out a higher proportion of firsts than they were in 2010/11.

The findings are likely to spark fresh debate about grade inflation, and whether the centuries-old degree classification system is still fit for purpose.

One expert said some increase is not unreasonable, but that issues such as university rankings may fuel grade inflation.

The analysis shows:

At 50 UK universities - roughly a third of the total - at least 25% of degrees awarded in 2015/16 were a first, while at 10 institutions, more than a third were given the highest award.

By contrast, in 2010/11 just 12 institutions gave at least one in four degrees a first, and only two gave more than a third the top honour.

On average, across all institutions there has been around an eight percentage point rise in firsts in the last five years, the analysis of Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data shows.

Just seven institutions have seen a fall in the proportion of firsts.

Five universities and colleges have seen the proportion of top honours rise by at least 20 percentage points, while 40 institutions have seen at at least a 10-point hike.