§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate of the drop-out rate at each English university for the last year for which figures are available is; and if she will make a statement. [76161]
§ Margaret HodgeThe available information on non-completion rates, showing figures for each HE institution in the UK, is contained in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Copies of the latest edition, covering students who entered HE in 1998/99, are available in the House library.
The figures show an overall non-completion rate of 17 per cent., a figure which has stayed roughly constant since 1991–92. In 2000, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published figures comparing estimates of non-completion in member countries, and these showed that the UK had the second lowest non-completion rate among OECD countries.