A leaked e-mail shows how university staff are being urged to increase the number of top degree grades to keep pace with competing universities.
The internal e-mail from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) tells staff to "bear this in mind" when they do their student assessments.
The university told the BBC this was in no way related to university policy.
Last week, the higher education exams watchdog warned that the university grading system was "rotten".
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