§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence he has collated on the differences in student drop-out rates between institutions, correlated with the socio-economic class of those dropping out.[135780]
§ Alan JohnsonThe available information on non-completion rates by institution is contained in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) publication 'Performance indicators in higher education in the UK ', a copy of which is in the house1010W Library. The figures cover full-time first degree courses only and show the proportion of entrants who failed to complete their course for each individual HE institution in the UK. This data is not disaggregated by social class. However, the publication does show the proportion of young full time first degree entrants from the 'lower' social class categories for each institution.
However, a number of research studies have explored the factors associated with students dropping out of higher education. The evidence shows that non-completion is a complex process that cannot normally be explained by a single factor. Other important factors (many of which are inter-related) include:
Incompatibility between the student and their course or institution;
lack of preparation for higher education;
lack of commitment to the course:
level of prior attainment;
financial hardship;
poor academic progress;
health and other personal reason;
age;
gender; and
whether or not the individual applied through clearing.
Studies in this area include:
(i) 'Right Choice? A follow up to "Making the Right Choice"' by Connor H, Pearson R, Pollard E, Tyers C, Willison R. Universities UK 2001, available from http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/report.php?id = 1427uuk
(ii) 'Effects of in-class variation and student rank on the probability of withdrawal: cross-section and time-series analysis for UK university students', by Arulampalam W, Naylor R A and Smith J, presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference at the University of Warwick in March 2002. It can be downloaded from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/economics/staff/faculty/naylor/publications/
(iii) 'Dropping Out: A study of early leavers from Higher Education' by Rhys Davies and Peter Elias, DfES Research Report 386 available from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
(iv) 'Higher Education: Student Retention' a report made by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to the House of Commons Education and Employment Committee, found at http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmeduemp/124/12402.htm.
§ Paul FarrellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has(a) conducted or (b) received into the relationship between a student's financial position and their propensity to drop out of higher education; and what conclusions he has drawn. [139626]
§ Alan JohnsonA number of research studies have explored the factors associated with dropping out of higher education. These include:
Improving student achievement in the English higher education sector HC 486, Parliamentary Session 2001/2002;
"Dropping Out: A study of early leavers from Higher Education" (2003) Rhys Davies and Peter Elias, DfES Research Report 386; and
Yorke, M (1997) "Undergraduate Non-completion in Higher Education in England" Bristol HEFCE;
Arulampalam, W., Naylor, R. A. and Smith, J., "Effects of in-class variation and student rank on the probability of withdrawal: cross-section and time-series analysis for UK university students," presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference, University of Warwick, March, 2002;
1011W"Right Choice? A follow-up to 'Making the Right Choice"', Connor H. Pearson R, Pollard E, Tyers C, Willison R. Universities UK 2001;
"Losing out: socio-economic disadvantage and experience in further and higher education" May 2003 Joseph Rowntree Foundation Smith J. and R. A. Naylor, "Dropping out of University: a statistical analysis of the probability of withdrawal for UK university students," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 2001, vol. 164, pp. 389–405;
The evidence shows that non-completion is a complex process that cannot normally be explained by any single factor. Incompatibility between the student and their course or institution and a lack of preparation for higher education are the most commonly cited reasons for dropping out of higher education. Other reasons, which are often inter-related, include:
lack of commitment to the course;
financial hardship;
poor academic progress; and
health or other personal reasons.
Research also shows that students with lower prior attainment and those who apply through clearing are more likely to drop-out of higher education other things being equal.