The UK's HE system is mired in public debate around 'grade inflation', and there is substantial pressure to address the perceived devaluation of degrees through blunt policy measures such as modifying classification algorithms. Policy-makers should be aware of the impact of their actions upon students' learning; this article frames some of the neglected pedagogical arguments in concise syllogistic forms, focusing particularly on the issues around weighting the first year of a traditional UK bachelor's degree classification algorithm.