News

Latest figures underline quality in admissions and completion rates

(30 September 2004)

The University of Durham is continuing to attract more people from state schools and non-traditional backgrounds, according to latest figures from the Higher Education Statistical Agency HESA).

The annual “Performance Indicators” show how institutions have performed against their individual benchmarks for various aspects of admissions and the student experience, such as age, social class, school background and completion rates. They are combined figures for courses in Durham City and at the University’s Queen’s Campus, Stockton.

The admissions data reflects the effect that is building up over a number of years of Durham’s recruitment work in schools, which begins with pupils before they even take their GCSEs. The completion rates are a measure of the quality of students and the supportive academic and social environment in the University. The latest statistics relate to the situation in 2002-03 and therefore do not reflect further progress that has been made since then.

State schools
Durham has increased the proportion of school and college leavers (defined as ‘young entrants’) from the state sector by 1% to 68%.

If you add the number of Mature students, who are mostly from state school backgrounds, the total proportion of admissions is more than 70 %. Durham recruits significantly above its benchmark for Mature students: 24%, compared with 16%.

Although its HESA benchmark for young entrants is now 80, reflecting overall improvements across the sector, Durham’s adjusted figure is about 10 per cent lower because its subject mix includes some (eg Classics) that get few applicants from the state sector.

The continuing rise in state schools applications and admissions reflects the University’s targeted recruitment work, particularly among some 90 schools in the north east and other activities such campus visits and residential summer schools for potential applicants from the local region and other parts of the country.

Lower social classes
Another 1% rise to 15%, but direct comparisons with previous years are difficult because the categories have been revised.

Low Participation Neighbourhoods (LPNs)
In 2002, the year to which these figures relate, Durham recruited 303 school and college leavers from LPNs, compared with 231 the year before. The percentage remains at around 11%, which is on the benchmark, because the overall admissions for the year were higher.

But in terms of individual students, this shows that significantly more people came to study at Durham from areas with little or no tradition of going to University. This is another measure of the accumulating effect of the University’s work to encourage more applications from this sector.

Completion of courses
Durham students continue to have one of the most successful completion rates in the UK at 97%. Only 1% of entrants fail to qualify or transfer to another HE provider, which is below the benchmark of 4%. The Durham drop-out rate for mature students is also better than the benchmark.: 9% against 13%.


From: Keith Seacroft, Head of Public Relations
0191 334 6074
keith.seacroft@durham.ac.uk.