§ Mr. RowlandsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of students who dropped out of higher education courses in(a) 1995–96, and (b) 1996–97; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such drop out. [21896]
§ Mr. HainThe information requested is not yet available centrally. I will write to the hon. Member when the figures for Wales become available in the Spring.
The latest available figures for drop-out among full-time and sandwich first-degree students in former Universities Funding Council institutions in the UK and former polytechnics in England are shown in the following table.
Full-time and sandwich first degree drop-out rates in former UFC universities in the UK and former polytechnics in England1 Per cent. Higher education 1989–90 16 1990–91 15 1991–92 17 1992–93 17 1993–94 217–18 1994–95 217–18 Sources:
USR leavers and enrolment records, HESA, CNAA enrolment records, England and Wales (1989–90), DfEE FESR, England (1990–91 to 1994–95).
Notes:
1Drop-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 rate is a weighted sum of the separate university and former polytechnic figures based upon graduate numbers. It therefore excludes first degree students in other UK HE institutions. The calculation for the polytechnic drop-out rate it necessarily approximate because of significant limitations in the underlying data. In practice it has been necessary to estimate drop-out in 1991–92 to 1994–95 from the change in two successive years for a sample of around half of the 29 English former polytechnics.
2A range is given because the introduction of a new data source has made it difficult to measure drop-out accurately.