BACK ON COURSE – supporting and understanding early exit from HE Enhancement Themes conference, Thursday 9 June 2016 John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh Kitty Chilcott & William Hasty The Open University in Scotland

Outline Background Scope & Delivery Information advice and guidance service Research Q&A

Outline Back in Course is a free, impartial information, advice and guidance service for early-leavers from full-time undergraduate higher education, and research project into the factors contributing to early exit

Background Scottish Government strategic priority Concern about the number of students leaving HE early 2012 – SFC Launched 2013 English model

Project scope and delivery Sectoral 11 universities HEIs upload contact data Student services BOC team contact leavers Two core strands: Information, advice and guidance service Research

Information, advice and guidance Free impartial information advice and guidance service for early leavers from HE to 2015 – 260

Information, advice and guidance I was so glad to hear about Back on Course. I thought people like me were forgotten about. I didn’t think I would be able to go back to university, I thought you got one chance and that was it. I did two years of animal biology even though I knew it wasn’t for me. I chose it because I thought it was the sensible thing to do. What I really want to do is teach. I would love to go back to university Danni, Edinburgh

Research 2013 – ,453 contact details 486 completed surveys

Towards a deeper understanding of ‘early-exit’ in Scotland Full reporting of statistics at the end of each year and extended analysis to come at the end of the project in 2017 Focus today on Key trends emerging Proposed next steps

Key trends While first-year is still the most likely point of early exit (36%), those leaving in second and third-year account for 52% of early-leavers. The year-old age group make up nearly 70% of early-leavers Their course or their HEI was the main reason for leaving for nearly 60%, despite the fact that course was the main motivating factor for more than 70% Nearly 50% lived with their parents/guardians whilst studying The vast majority had no dependents whilst studying 50% didn’t work at all whilst studying 31% of early leavers come from SIMD 1 and 2. Only 6% utilised HEI careers service when considering leaving 60% said that they would consider returning to study with their previous HEI

Importance of guidance “UK and Australian research … indicates that students have insufficient information to inform pre-entry decisions and this impacts negatively on retention and success” (Thomas, 2013: 7) See also McInnes et al., 2000; Yorke, 2000; Krause et al., 2005; Harvey and Drew., 2006; Yorke and Thomas 2003; and Dodgson and Bolam, 2002.

Importance of guidance Key messages from BOC participants and the project staff on pre-entry and exit advice: Course is still key driver, but based on what information? Often social and emotional reasons for study Teaching staff are key point of contact for students thinking about leaving, but 67% of leavers don’t feel comfortable talking about it… Testimony tells us that there remains a culture of shame around ‘dropping out’ which means leavers don’t value their HE experience/achievements and don’t make the most of HEI services FE to HE transitions remain very difficult for many students, feelings of isolation and inadequacy result in many leaving study early.

Are we ‘pathologizing the normal’? “The language that is used in academic debate and in the research literature is overwhelmingly at the negative end of the scale. This is what I will refer to as the ‘pathological’ approach, where pathology is the study of disease or abnormality. Thus we have ‘wastage’, ‘attrition’, ‘student mortality’, and the term ‘dropout’ itself.” (Woodley, 2004: 48)

“…what is counted as ‘successful’ experience of HE[?] … leaving without completion may not always be a negative act” (Merrill, 2015: 1806) “Leaving university early was a scary decision as I was so set on becoming a speech therapist since about the age of 13 and suddenly this was no longer going to happen, but I knew leaving was the right decision for me at the time.” Hannah, BOC participant

Where next? Further year of funding Vital Information, Advice and Guidance service continues Research deepened and widened – More surveys – Addition of follow-up interviews and focus groups Adds texture to the data we have Allows exploration of key themes in more depth Speaks to key concerns of sector around issues such as sense of belonging, impact of pre-entry guidance, resilience, etc.

Contact Kitty Chilcott & William Hasty Contact- Phone: Web: