Just over a third of all degrees handed out by a Norwich university last year were first class, new figures show.

In 2015/16, 34pc of the University of East Anglia's (UEA) degrees fell in the top category, compared to 12.5pc in 2010/11.

It marks a rise of 21.5pc over the last five years - giving the university the second biggest increase in the country.

First was Surrey University, with its proportion doubling from almost a fifth, 19.3pc, in 2010/11 to more than two fifths, 41.2pc, in 2015/16.

Professor Neil Ward, UEA's pro vice-chancellor (academic), said: 'Over this period we have focused on improving teaching staff numbers.

'Excellent student to staff ratios are essential to our students achieving good degrees, so between 2008/09 and 2015/16 we invested an extra £20m a year and increased staff numbers by approximately 400.'

He said this meant the staff to student ratio moved from 18:1 to 13.3:1, meaning more academics were on hand to guide students through their degrees.

'We have also introduced a range of initiatives to support student learning and increase study time, such as peer-assisted and interactive digital learning and opening our library 24/7 for 365 days a year,' he said.

Prof Ward said that students who graduated in 2015/16 had arrived at university with stronger A Levels than those who did so in 2010/11.

It comes as thousands of UEA students celebrate graduation week, with ceremonies held every day.

Meanwhile, the number of firsts awarded by Norwich University of the Arts also rose, up from 19.3pc in 2010/11 to 27.5pc last year, a rise of 8.2pc.

Professor John Last, its vice-chancellor, said: 'As schools improve, so too does the quality of entrants to university and so we might expect to see a rise in the top degree classifications. This is particularly the case with NUA where our entry qualifications have been rising steadily over the past few years.'

He said there had been no significant change in the proportion of higher grade degrees, which are monitored every year.

The figures were from the Higher Education Statistics Agency and Press Association.

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