Why Is University Grade Data Not Public in the UK?

Universities know exactly how many students got a First in ECM3428 last year. They will not tell you unless you ask the right way. That is not an accident -- it is the default setting of UK higher education data policy.

If you are choosing modules or a degree, that gap matters. Grade distributions predict outcomes better than module descriptions ever will, and right now almost nobody uses them to decide anything.

There is no law requiring proactive publication

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects institution-level and subject-level outcome data every year. Universities are obliged to submit it. Nobody is obliged to publish it down to module level, or even to make the subject-level breakdown easy to find.

Compare that with, say, school league tables, which the Department for Education publishes proactively every year at pupil-cohort level. Higher education has no equivalent statutory duty. HESA's own published data stops at aggregate, institution-wide figures -- useful for policy, not for a second-year deciding between two options in the same semester.

Universities are not hiding anything illegal. They are simply under no obligation to volunteer module-level numbers, so almost none do.

The Freedom of Information Act changes the default

What UK universities are obliged to do is respond to Freedom of Information requests. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 covers all publicly funded higher education institutions, and grade distribution data -- pass rates, classification bands, cohort sizes per module -- falls squarely inside what they must disclose on request.

This is the mechanism that flips the default. Nobody has to publish the data. But if you ask, in writing, citing the Act, they generally have twenty working days to answer -- or to cite a specific, legally defined exemption for withholding it.

See our FOI methodology page for exactly how that request works and what a university can and cannot refuse to disclose.

Why so few people actually ask

FOI requests are not complicated, but almost nobody files them for module data. Three reasons come up repeatedly.

Students do not know it is possible. Most undergrads have never heard of FOI as a route to their own university's internal statistics -- it reads as something journalists use, not something a second-year picking modules would reach for.

The output is not designed for decision-making. A raw FOI response often arrives as a spreadsheet buried in an email PDF, with module codes but no context, no comparison, and no explanation of what "cohort size: 8" should mean for your choice.

Universities are not incentivised to make it easy. A published, searchable, module-level First-rate table invites comparison -- between modules, between years, between departments. That comparison is not something most universities have a reason to volunteer.

What this means for module choice specifically

The privacy-conscious way to think about this data is in bands, not raw percentages, and that is deliberate -- see our privacy threshold for why cohorts under 10 are never published. But even banded, the picture is stark:

Data source	What it covers	Public by default?
HESA institutional stats	University-wide First/2:1/2:2 rates	Yes, aggregate only
HESA subject-level data	Broad subject area outcomes	Partially, coarse categories
Module-level grade distributions	Individual module pass rates, classification bands	No -- FOI only
Cohort-size context	How many students sat a given module	No -- FOI only

The gap in that table -- module-level distributions and cohort context -- is where module choice actually gets decided, and it is precisely the layer that stays hidden without a direct request.

For the module choice implications specifically, see does module choice affect degree class.

What GradeHack does with this

We file the FOI requests so students don't have to. That means putting in the twenty-day wait, chasing the exemption disputes, and turning spreadsheet dumps into banded signals you can actually compare across modules before a selection deadline.

Access GradeHack's FOI-sourced data for the modules on your degree, rather than filing your own requests from scratch.

FAQ

Is it legal for universities to withhold module grade data?

Universities can only withhold FOI-requested data if a specific statutory exemption applies -- commonly cost limits or data protection concerns for very small cohorts. Blanket refusal without citing an exemption is not lawful, and requesters can appeal to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Can I file an FOI request myself for my own university's module data?

Yes. Any UK citizen can submit an FOI request to a publicly funded university, in writing, asking for module-level grade distribution data. Many requesters use WhatDoTheyKnow to file and publish the exchange, which also makes prior requests searchable.

Why does GradeHack use banded data instead of exact percentages?

Small cohorts make exact percentages potentially identifying -- a module with eight students and one First reveals too much about an individual. We publish bands (low/mid/high) for any cohort under our threshold and never publish raw numbers on indexable pages. See our methodology for the full policy.

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The data exists. Universities hold it, HESA aggregates a slice of it, and FOI can unlock the rest. The only real barrier is that almost nobody asks.

Get access to module-level grade data that would otherwise take you weeks of FOI requests to assemble yourself.