Degree Class and Attainment in Scientific Research

The most important criterion for the award of a grant for post‐graduate research in science appears at present to be the class obtained by the candidate in his final B. A. or B. Sc. degree. As a preliminary check on the validity of this criterion, the degree classes gained by four groups of eminent British scientists have been ascertained. These groups comprise Fellows of the Royal Society and Doctors of Science who have graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge during the period 1920–39. The degree classes obtained by members of comparable groups of research scientists who have not as yet been elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society or awarded the Doctorate of Science are used as a basis of comparison. The results of these comparisons indicate: (i) that neither the Cambridge F.R.S.'s nor the Cambridge D. Sc.'s had better degree classes than those of their respective control groups; (ii) that although Cambridge F.R.S.'s were roughly three times as numerous as those from Oxford, they were far less likely to have first class degrees and (iii) that the F.R.S.'s of both Universities gained considerably better degrees than the D.Sc.'s. Some implications of these results are discussed.