PIs: Non-continuation rates - technical details (table series T3)

The continuation rates have been produced using a census cohort approach. The method involves identifying a group of entrants known as a cohort, consisting of all students of interest who started at the institution on a course of study in a particular year. Their continuation outcomes – whether they continue, transfer to another institution, or are absent from Higher Education (HE) registered at an higher education institution (HEI) – are then determined.

This page provides details of the method used, including variations to the method for different groups of students.

General information

A student who begins an engagement with an HEI in a particular year may achieve one of a number of possible outcomes after a given period of time. These can be summarised as:

• Qualify, whether or not that qualification exactly matched their original study intention.
• Continue at the same HEI, either on the same course or elsewhere in the institution.
• Transfer to another HEI, either to a similar course or to an entirely different study experience.
• Absent from HE registered at an HEI.

In our analysis of continuation, students who qualify either with a first degree (for example if they have transferred from a diploma course) or with an other undergraduate qualification are included with those who continue.

Note that the continuation rates do not take progression into account, that is of moving from year 1 to year 2. They also ignore course changes within the institution and changes to mode of study. They simply look at whether or not a student is still in HE (registered at an HEI) after a year (T3a-T3d) or two years (T3e).

Students may leave higher education at various times during their first year, or simply not return after the end of the year. When a student leaves very early in the academic year, there may be reasons for this, which are unconnected with the course or the institution. To allow for this, full-time students who are recorded as leaving before 1 December in their first academic year have been removed from the figures (T3a-T3d), as have part-time students who leave their programme of study within 50 days of commencement (T3e).

The period of time after which continuation outcomes are determined varies between full- and part-time entrants, and the two methods used are described below. The full- and part-time entrant populations are defined in the definitions document.

Full-time entrants (Tables T3a to T3d)

For full-time entrants, students are tracked from the year they enter the HEI to the following year. Continuation outcomes are then based on a student's activity the year after they entered.

A full-time student is assumed to have qualified with a first degree from the year of entry if they satisfy any one of the following:

• QUAL on the HESA record for the year of entry is a first degree, see definitions for details.
• They are on a postgraduate course at the same HEI the year after they entered.
• QUAL on the HESA record the year after entry is a first degree and they are recorded as leaving the same HEI before 1 December.

A student is assumed to have qualified with an other undergraduate qualification from the year of entry if:

• QUAL on the HESA record for the year of entry is an other undergraduate qualification, see definitions for details; or
• QUAL on the HESA record for year after entry is an other undergraduate qualification and they are recorded as leaving the same HEI before 1 December.

Students who are active on an undergraduate course at the same HEI the year after they entered and have not left by 1 December are considered to have continued. Tables T3a to T3d groups up those students marked as continuing or qualifying, according to the above criteria, into the category 'continue or qualify at same HEI'.

Those counted as having transferred to another UK HEI are full-time entrants who started an undergraduate course at one institution, and are active on an HE course of study at a different HEI the following year (and not active at the original institution). If a student is not active on an HE course at an HEI the following year, they are counted as absent.

Part-time entrants (Table T3e)

For the purpose of the non-continuation indicators, part-time entrants only includes those students whose intensity of study in their first year is at least 30 per cent of a full-time student. Part-time entrants are not included in the calculations if they leave the programme of study within 50 days of commencement. See the definitions document for full details.

Entrants are defined as students who started a programme of study at that institution during the academic year of interest. This is based on the commencement date of the student's study (in technical terms, HESA field COMDATE). Entrants who are recorded as leaving within 50 days of their commencement date (in technical terms, HESA field DATELEFT prior to 2007/08 and ENDDATE from 2007/08 onwards) have not been included.

• undertaking and active on more than one course of HE at any higher education institution, at any level (postgraduate or undergraduate) or mode of study (full-time or part-time), and a duration of at least 50 days; or
• who were active on a full-time or part-time first degree course in the year prior to entry.

These criteria have been introduced for table T3e to help ensure that rates of continuation reflect on the true study intentions of the part-time student and that we are capturing students for whom the part-time first degree is their primary intention, rather than a supplement to another HE engagement.

The continuation outcomes of part-time entrants are captured once they have had the opportunity to undertake a material part of their provision, or a similar amount to that of full-time students. As such, part-time entrants are tracked from the year they enter an HEI through the following two years. Continuation outcomes are then based on a student’s activity two years after they enter. Some part-time students may qualify before the end of their second year and these have been included with those who continue. Some students may transfer to a different higher education institution the year after they enter, provided that they do not return to their original institution the following year, they are included with those who transfer. Table T3e shows continuation in the second academic year after entry.

A part-time student is assumed to have qualified with a first degree if they satisfy any one of the following:

• QUAL on the HESA record for the year of entry is a first degree, see definitions for details.
• QUAL on the HESA record for the year following entry is a first degree, and the student is recorded at the same HEI as in their year of entry.
• They are found on a postgraduate course at the same institution as they commenced their part-time first degree in either of the following two years.
• QUAL on the HESA record two years after entry is a first degree and they have left the same HEI before 1 December.

A student is assumed to have qualified with an other undergraduate qualification if:

• QUAL on the HESA record for the year of entry is an other undergraduate qualification, see definitions for details;
• QUAL on the HESA record the year after entry is an other undergraduate qualification, and the student is recorded at the same institution in both years; or
• QUAL on the HESA record for two years after entry is an other undergraduate qualification and they are recorded as leaving the same HEI before 1 December.

Students who are found to be active on an undergraduate course at the same HEI two years after entry are considered to have continued. Table T3e groups up those students marked as continuing or qualifying, according to the above criteria, into the category 'continue or qualify at same HEI'.

Those counted as having transferred to another UK HEI are part-time entrants who started an undergraduate course at one institution and are active on a HE course of study at a different HEI in either of the following two years (and not active at the original institution). If a student is not active at any HEI two years after entry, they are counted as absent.

Technical details (Tables T3, T4)

The progression types are defined as follows (applicable to tables T3 and T4):

Progression from year x to year y (applicable to tables T3 and T4), with corresponding HESA fields.

When defining the progression types for table T4, update the progression type to qualify if the student has gained an undergraduate qualification in the middle year (the year they were inactive from HE).

When defining the progression type for T3e, use the above progression matrix between the base year (year x) and the following year (year y) and between year y to two years following (year z). Take the progression type to year z unless:

• Progression type in year y is qualify (link type 0 or 1) and progression type in year z is inactive (link type 6). Update to progression type in year y.
• Progression type in year y is transfer (link type 4) and the institution in year z is different to that in year x. Update to progression type in year y. First degree (including intercalated) qualification was obtained in year y at the same institution as year x. Update progression type to qualify (link type 0)
• Progression type in year z is inactive and other undergraduate qualification was obtained in year y at the same institution as year x. Update to progression type to qualify (link type 1).
• Progression type in year z is transfer and first degree (including intercalated) qualification was obtained in year y at the same institution as year x. Update progression type to qualify (link type 0).
• Progression type in year z is transfer and other undergraduate qualification was obtained in year y at the same institution as year x. Update progression type to qualify (link type 1).

Enquiries

Press: Call 01242 211120 or email pressoffice@hesa.ac.uk.
General enquiries should be sent to piteam@hesa.ac.uk.
Enquiries regarding the Performance Indicators Steering Group (PISG) should be directed to the HEFCE Press Office on 0117 931 7307