Industry News
Four in five university students stay the course
Posted on 27th July 2007
Four out of five students starting a full-time university course in England are expected to complete it, a new statistical survey from the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed.
In the report, published as students await their A level results, the NAO said that the UK's retention performance in higher education compared favourably with most of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The report did, however, come with a call for further improvements, particularly among the handful of higher learning institutions that saw drop-out rates increase.
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said: "Compared to most other countries, a high proportion of students in higher education are successfully completing their courses. This is a good achievement at a time when higher education is being opened up to more students.
"But variations in retention rates between higher education institutions indicate that retention could be increased further, bringing major benefits to the extra students who would complete their studies and more value to the taxpayer and the economy from the public funds expended on higher education."
In total, 28,000 full time students who started a course in 2004-5 did not start their second year, while 87,000 part-time students failed to see their course through to the end.