The report shows the number of graduates being awarded first and upper-second class degrees rose from 67% in 2010-11 to 78% in 2016-17.
The OfS report is based on 1,638,490 students who graduated from 148 universities in England between 2010-11 and 2016-17.
The analysis found that:
- the percentage of graduates awarded first and upper-second class degrees rose from 67% in 2010-11 to 78% in 2016-17
- the percentage of first-class degrees rose from 16% to 27% in the same time frame
It says that in 2016-17, a total of 77 universities in England showed a statistically significant unexplained increase in first-class degree awards - this was in relation to both other universities and to their own level of firsts given in 2010-11.
The OfS report found that 14 institutions had an unexplained rise of above 20% in firsts and upper-seconds.
At the University of Surrey the proportion of firsts has more than doubled, from 23% in 2010/11 to 50% in 2016/17, while at Bradford University it has almost tripled, from 10.6% to 30.9%. Coventry University has seen a rise of 24.4%.