HC Deb 27 February 2003 vol 400 cc673-4W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has commissioned into the relationship between student costs and drop out rates for each university and higher education institution. [94765]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Figures published in 2002 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the UK as a whole has

Table 1: Actual and forecast income and expenditure
£ million
1999–2000 Actual 2000–01 Actual 2001–02 Forecast 2002–03 Forecast 2003–04 Forecast 2004–05 Forecast 2005–06 Forecast
Total income 10,465 11,069 11,585 12,237 12,796 13,280 13,799
% Increase — 5.8 5.5 5.6 4.6 3.8 3.9
Total expenditure 10,370 11,100 11,598 12,250 12,754 13,213 13,711
% increase — 7.0 5.9 5.6 4.1 3.6 3.8
Surplus after — — — — — — —
Depreciation of assets of valuation and tax 125 44 13 (10) 143 109 94

one of the lowest non-completion rates among OECD countries.

Up to date research, the UNITE/MORI "Student Living Report 2003", found that 96 per cent. of students consider that going to university is a worthwhile experience and that the major reason for drop out is dissatisfaction with the course rather than financial issues. 87 per cent. of students interviewed agreed that the money they were spending on higher education was a good investment in their future.

These findings on drop out are backed up by research commissioned by the Department "Dropping Out: A Study of Early Leavers from Higher Education" by Peter Elias and Rhys Davies at the Institute of Employment Research at Warwick University, published January 2003 that shows that the most common cause of non-completion was poor choice of course. Financial problems and personal problems were also cited by respondents to the survey. However, a relatively low response rate to the survey underpinning the research implies the quantitative results are only indicative.

The National Audit Office report "Improving Student Achievement in English Higher Education" published in January 2002 showed that students who drop out tend to have lower prior academic qualifications. Most of them cite personal reasons (feeling unprepared for higher education, changing personal circumstances or financial matters) or withdraw because of academic failure.