Mr. ShermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how many university students dropped out of courses before completion in each of the last 10 years. [14837]
§ Mr. BoswellThe wastage rates of full-time and sandwich students from first degree courses in former University Funding Council funded United Kingdom universities and former English and Welsh polytechnics are shown below:
Academic year:
- 1983–84: 14 per cent.
- 1984–85: 15 per cent.
- 1985–86: 14 per cent.
- 1986–87: 16 per cent.
- 1987–88: 17 per cent.
- 1988–89: 14 per cent.
- 1989–90: 16 per cent.
- 1990–91: 15 per cent.
- 1991–92: 17 per cent.
- 1992–93: 17 per cent.
Drop-out covers all those leaving degree courses because of exam failure, ill health, personal and other reasons. It includes those switching to a lower level course but it excludes students transferring between degree courses or subjects. The rate for each academic year reflects the progression of students through the whole length of the course. The calculation for the polytechnic drop-out rate is necessarily approximate because of significant limitations in the underlying data.