Cambridge University could break with 200 years of tradition by adopting a US-style degree system in a bid to tackle relentless grade inflation, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

The move to Grade Point Average could eventually see the first and 2:1 phased out, as British universities look to closer align themselves with other major institutions around the world.

It comes as leading academics across the country express their concern at the huge increase in the number of top degrees handed out in recent years, with three quarters of graduates now leaving university with a 2:1 or first.

Since the Nineties, the number of first class degrees has increased five-fold. The year-on-year rise has prompted calls for wholesale reform in the sector, amid fears that the trend is devaluing qualifications and making it harder for employers to differentiate between graduates.

Professor Graham Virgo, pro-vice chancellor at Cambridge, said that the current system was a “blunt tool” causing “dissatisfaction” among academics, adding that the university was “looking for alternatives”.

The main line of inquiry was the “North American” GPA model, he said, which has already been trialled by more than 20 universities in the UK.

“There is a general sense of dissatisfaction with the blunt tool of the traditional classes,” he continued.