Education and Skills written question – answered at on 26 October 2004.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes in the methodology for the compiling of data for the non-completion rate for full-time students starting first degree courses were made between 2001–02 and 2002–03; and what the effect of those changes was.
Full details of the changes to the methodology for non-completion are available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) website at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi in the documents "Changes to PIs 2002/03" and "Annex C: Projected Outcomes". In summary, non-completion is one of the categories of the projected outcomes. These outcomes are derived by linking students from one year to the next to create a matrix of possible outcomes which is then used to calculate the projected outcomes. For the most recent projected outcomes, which cover students starting first degree courses in 2001–02, changes were made to (a) the method of linking students and (b) the categories used in the matrix. The effect of the changes to the linking on the national figures is quite small. Some institutions show changes that appear relatively large, but these are mainly the small institutions where relatively large fluctuations are common. Similarly, the effect of the changes to the matrix at national level is small, and for most institutions there is no discernible effect.
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