Some of you may have seen an article in the Sunday Telegraph and also in
the Daily Mail on Monday regarding student drop-outs. In the Telegraph
article Cambridge was quoted as having a dropout rate of 11%. We know from
our own statistics that the rate for first degrees is less than 1%.
Naturally we were more than a little surprised to read otherwise. Since
then we have been investigating the source of the information. It now
appears that HESA supplied details of each institution to the PUSH Guide.
They did not provide wastage statistics but instead gave the numbers of
first year first degree students in 1994-95 by expected length of course,
and the number of students graduating in 1996-97. It is clear that the
PUSH people have then done a simple calculation to arrive at the number of
students not graduating and assumed that these have dropped out.
I am currently awaiting the figures HESA supplied on behalf of Cambridge to
check this out. However, it would appear that no account has been taken of
student switching to four year courses (of which we have a large number) as
these wouldn't have graduated until 1997-98. Neither has any account been
taken of students intermitting their courses who return to complete them
successfully.
Our Press office has looked at the figures for a number of other
institutions and these look equally strange. I would advise you to check
your own figures with those published in the new guide. I would add that
the previous edition had Cambridge at 1% dropout so the use of the HESA
figures appears to have caused the problem.
Once we are clear as to exactly what has gone wrong we will be taking the
matter up with HESA and the CVCP. I am extremely worried that these
figures identifying individual institutions are being released (sold?) by
HESA without the knowledge or consent of the institutions concerned. As
PUSH specifically asked for dropout rates and HESA would not supply them,
there must have been a strong possibility that the data they supplied would
be used in this way.
I will post a furhter message when I have seen the HESA figures.
Dennis Barrington-Light
Head of Student Records and Statistics
University of Cambridge, 10 Peas Hill, Cambridge CB2 3PN
Tel: 01223-332303 (Direct line) Fax: 01223-331200
Email: [log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|