From education to employment

Higher education performance indicators UK: non-continuation 2020 to 2021

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The purpose of the indicators is to provide an objective measure of how the UK higher education (HE) sector is performing.

For any individual who enrols at an HE provider, there are a range of outcomes that the student may achieve after a particular time. In these tables we define a student to have continued if they obtain a qualification (not necessarily the one they were originally aiming for) or remain active at the same HE provider (even if studying a different course to the one originally started). See the non-continuation definition for more detail. 

Table T5, which shows projected outcomes, is based on the previous method of calculating the UK Performance Indicators and does not include providers who submit to the Student Alternative record. Please see the publication archive for data prior to 2015/16.

Tables and charts included within this release include an academic year filter, allowing users to change between the current and previous years of data.

  • The non-continuation rate for young full-time first degree entrants in 2019/20 in the UK was 5.3%. This is a fall of 1.4 percentage points from the previous year and is the lowest non-continuation rate observed since the UK PIs have been calculated.
  • The non-continuation rate for mature full-time first degree entrants in the UK was 11.9%, a fall of 1.6 percentage points from the previous year.
  • Projected outcome statistics show that 9.4% of full-time first degree entrants in the UK are projected to leave HE with no award, a fall of 1.7 percentage points from the previous year, and also the lowest rate on record.

Sector Response

Minister for Higher and Further Education Michelle Donelan said:

“I have long argued that when it comes to university, getting on is every bit as important as getting in, and that universities must focus on tackling drop-out rates among students.

“That is why it is so greatly welcome to see that for the first time, it is projected over 90% of students will complete a qualification – the highest rate ever recorded. This is real progress, impacting real lives – and I want to put on record my thanks to our universities for their hard work, especially through a challenging pandemic, in reaching this milestone”.

Read more here:

Higher education performance indicators UK: non-continuation 2020 to 2021


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