1. Academic Standards and Education Committee
Student Population Statistics
February 2019

2. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry
HESA’s Performance Indicator, T3 – Non-continuation following year of entry, measures the proportion of full-time, first degree entrants who continued in the following year, as distinct from those who either withdraw or fail to re-enrol.
The published tables for T3 consider only Home students, whereas the statistics shown here for Bournemouth are for all full-time first degree new entrants. However the figures are comparable as the BU measure quoted for 2015/16 year of entry is 88.4% and HESA’s published Continue/Qualify rate for BU for 2015/16 entry is 88.5% (0.1% difference).
The sector average in 2015/16, from HESA Performance Indicators, was 90.1%.
The c. 10% non-continuation rate from the first year forms roughly half of the c. 20% eventual dropout rate across the length of a full-time first degree. As such, trends in the year of entry measure are predictive of trends in final completion rates after 4+ years.
Excluding Partner Institutions, the Continue/Qualify rate at BU has fallen very slightly by 0.3% from 90.6% in 2016/17 to 90.3% in 2017/18.
The HESA PI definition ignores pre-1st December withdrawals. If the population is widened to include these students, the BU Campus Continue/Qualify rate is 2.2% lower at 88.1% in 2017/18.

3. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry
Within the BU figure of 90.3% Continued or Qualified in 2017/18, there is some variation between Faculties.
The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences has a continuation rate of 92.1%, while the Faculty of Management has a continuation rate of 89.2%.
All Faculties show an increase in continuation rates across the three-year period.
continuation rates at department level range from 94.8% for Nursing & Clinical Sciences to 82.3% for Law.
The three year trend line shows where departmental continuation rates are atypical over the period.
The largest positive differences are for Creative Technology (+5.0% against 3-year trend; +3.3% since ) and Journalism, English and Communication (+3.4% against 3-year trend; +3.5% since ).
The largest negative differences are for Events & Leisure (-2.9% against 3-year trend; -3.8% since ) and Media Production (-2.8% against 3-year trend; -4.0% since ).

4. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry by Entry Qualification
When viewed by Qualification on Entry type, there is a marked difference between Continue/Qualify rates for those with A/AS Level qualifications and Level 3 Diplomas (dominated by BTEC qualifications). For 2017/18, the Continue/Qualify rate for A/AS Level was 93.3% while for Level 3 Diplomas (including BTEC) it was 85.3%, a gap of 8%.
Across the 3 years, the overall Continue/Qualify rate for A/AS Levels was 91.9%, while that from level 3 Diplomas was 83.6%.
Continue/Qualify rates vary little by tariff points, particularly looking at all three years’ data. The 3-year trend line is almost flat around the 90% mark from 72 points to 144+ points.
Within qualification types, continuation following year of entry also does not vary significantly by tariff points on entry: rather the rate at any given tariff range is similar to the average for the qualification type across all tariff ranges.
The large peaks (100%) for Level 3 Diplomas at points and points represent small numbers of students (10 or less) with a total tariff score not represented by a BTEC triple combination, hence the small population.
Continue/Qualify rates are higher for A/AS Level students with points (94.4%) than Level 3 Diploma students with 144+ points (85.4%).

5. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry by Ethnic Origin
In considering non-continuation by ethnic origin, the population has been limited to Home (BU + PI) students.
For 2017/18 academic year of entry, the continue/qualify rate for home BME students was 86.1%, compared with 91.4% for non BME students, a gap of 5.3%.
The continuation rate for non-BME students has risen by 2.5% across the 3 years (88.8% in 2015/16 compared with 91.4% in 2017/18), while the continuation rate for BME students has fallen slightly from 87.5% in 2015/16 to 86.1% in 2017/18.
As described above, qualification on entry is one of the strongest influencing factors for progression, with BTEC students significantly underperforming relative to student with A-levels.
The continue/qualify rate for BME students with A-levels is 93.0% which is comparable with the 93.3% rate for non-BME students. However, the continue/qualify for BTEC BME students is 74.6%, compared with 88.2% for non-BME students, a difference of 13.5%.
There is also a large difference of 25.6% for students with HE Access Course qualifications, however this represents a small absolute number of BME students (only 13 students in 2017/18, compared with 302 with A-levels and 205 with L3 Diplomas).

6. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry by Low Participation Neighbourhood (LPN)
In considering Non-continuation by LPN category, the population has been limited to Home, Young (under 21 on entry) students.
Continue/Qualify rate for LPN students has risen from 86.9% to 90.3% between 2015/16 and 2017/18 entry, while over the same period, non-LPN Continue/Qualify rates have risen from 89.2% in 2015/16 to 91.1% in 2017/18.
The most recent sector data, for 2015/16 entry, shows a Continue/Qualify rate of 88.7% for LPN students compared with 91.2% for Home, Young students not from an LPN, a difference of -2.5%. This is similar to the difference of -2.3% for BU LPN students in 2015/16, but considerably more than the -0.9% difference for BU LPN students in 2017/18.
As described above, Qualification on Entry is a significant predictor of progression.
The opposing graph shows the progression of 2017/18 entrants by LPN and Qualification on Entry.
With the exception of HE Access Courses and Other (non-Level 3) qualification groups, for which the absolute number of LPN students is very small, continuation rates are very similar for LPN and non-LPN students.

7. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Full-Time First Degree Entrants: Non-continuation following Year of Entry by Disability
The Continue/Qualify rate for ALS students has risen by 3.9% from 87.5% in 2015/16 and 91.4% in 2017/18.
The Continue/Qualify rate for non-ALS students has also risen, although by less, moving from 88.6% in 2015/16 to 89.9% in 2017/18.
Over the last 3 years, the continuation rate for ALS students has moved from 1.0% lower than for non-ALS students for 2015/16 entrants to 1.5% higher than non-ALS entrants for 2017/18 entrants.
Overlaying Qualification on Entry on continuation rates by Disability shows some variation by qualification on entry profile.
The Continue/Qualify rate for ALS students with A-levels is, at 92.7%, nearly the same as the non-ALS rate at 93.3%.
However, ALS students with BTEC qualifications have an 89.9% continuation rate which is 5.5% higher than the 84.4% rate for non-ALS students with BTEC qualifications.
There is also a difference of 8.1% in the continuation rates of ALS and non-ALS students with HE Access Course qualifications (although, at 37 students, this ALS population is relatively small).

8. 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes
HESA’s Performance Indicator, T5 – Projected Learning Outcomes, projects the proportion of full-time, first degree entrants who will leave with a degree, based upon the pattern of transitions between student year n to year n+1 in BU’s 2015/16 and 2016/17 HESA returns.
The BU measure presented here records actual outcomes for 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic year of entry after six, five and four years respectively, and compares them to HESA projections.
The Continued/Qualified rate has remained approximately level across the three years, falling very slightly from 79.8% for 2012/13 first degree entrants to 79.5% for 2014/15 entrants. This compares to a 2014/15 HESA sector average of 80.8%.
HESA’s modelling of our 2014/15 first degree qualifying rates is 79.3%, a close match to the observed figure of 79.5%; but the BU figures are based on actual qualifiers rather than a projection. HESA project a figure of 78.5% for our 2015/16 entrants which, if accurate, would be a c. 1% fall in qualifying rate.
Considering just first degree students at BU campus, the Continued/Qualified rate for 2014/15 entrants varied from 83.2% (FHSS and FMC) to 77.3% in FST.

9. 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes by Department (BU Excl. PI)
2014/15 Continue/Qualify rates at department level range from 89.1% for Corporate & Marketing Communications to 70.3% for Computing & Informatics.
The three year trend line shows where departmental 2014/15 Continue/Qualify rates are atypical over the 3-year period 2012/13 to 2014/15.
As with their T3 (Non-continuation following year of entry) indicator, HESA exclude withdrawals before 1st December in the year of entry from their measure. Including these students would reduce the BU Campus overall figure from 79.8% to 78.3%.

10. 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes by Entry Qualification Type
Outcomes for First Degrees are very different by Qualification on Entry type. Across the 3 years, the average Continue/Qualify rate for students with A/AS Level qualifications is 84.0%, whereas for students with Level 3 Diplomas it is 65.8%, an 18.2% difference.
The Continue/Qualify rate for students with A-levels is higher across all 3 years than the rate for other qualification types (although rates for “Other” qualifications are close to those for A/AS Level in 2012/13 and 2013/14).
Outcomes vary little by tariff points, particularly looking at all three years’ data. The 3-year trend line is almost flat around the 80% mark from 220 points to 360 points.
Peaks and troughs in the 3-year trend are influenced by the availability of BTEC combinations. Troughs occur at tariff scores which represent possible BTEC triple award combinations: “MMM” at 240; “DMM” at 280; “DDM” at 320; “DDD” at 360. The L3 Diploma peaks at , and represent very small populations (less than 10 students in each case).
2014/15 Continue/Qualify rates are higher for A/AS Level students with points (81.8%) than Level 3 Diploma students with 360+ points (78.0%).

11. 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes by Ethnic Origin
In considering outcomes by ethnic origin, the population has been limited to Home (BU + PI) students.
For 2014/15 academic year of entry, the continue/qualify rate for Home BME students was 77.2%, compared with 80.2% for non-BME students, a difference of 3.0%.
While the Continue/Qualify rate for non-BME students has remained relatively stable across the 3 years (81.4% for 2012/13 entry compared with 80.2% for 2014/15 entry), the Continue/Qualify rate for BME students has risen from 69.2% in 2012/13 to 77.2% in 2014/15.
This outcome for 2014/15 BME students varies considerably by qualification on entry. However, unlike previous years, this variability is broadly in line with the pattern by qualification on entry generally, particularly for students with A/AS Level and Level 3 Diploma (including BTEC).
The Continue/Qualify rate for BME students with A-levels is 80.7% compared with an 84.0% rate for non-BME students (a difference of 3.3%), while the Continue/Qualify rate for BTEC BME students is 68.4%, compared with 70.4% for non-BME students, a difference of 2.1%.
There is a difference of -14.8% for students with “Other Level 3 qualifications”, however the BME population for this qualification on entry category is quite small (under 30 students).

12. 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes by LPN
Full-time First Degree outcomes by LPN are given for Home students under 21 on entry.
For 2014/15 academic year of entry, the Continue/Qualify rate for LPN students was 70.8%, compared with 80.9% for Young, Home non-LPN students.
This difference of -10.1% in the Continue/Qualify rate of LPN students is not seen for 2012/13 and 2013/14 entrants where rates are similar for LPN and non-LPN students.
As already mentioned in the relevant section, Non-continuation following year of entry accounts for approximately half of the eventual dropout rate reflected in final outcomes. The difference between LPN and non-LPN Continue/Qualify rates for Non-continuation following year of entry in 2014/15 was 4.6%, which would suggest a likely gap of 9.2% in eventual completion rates. This is close to the observed difference of 10.1%
The difference in continuation rates following year of entry between LPN and non-LPN students for 2015/16 entry onwards suggests that this gap will close to approximately 5% for 2015/16 entrants and 2% for 2017/18 entrants.
When considering Continue/Qualify rates for LPN and non-LPN students by entry qualification, it can be seen that there is a difference in performance for all qualification types, consistent with the overall figure.

13. 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 Full-time First Degree Entrants: Outcomes by Disability
Across the three years, the average Continue Qualify rate for ALS students was 78.1% compared with 80.0% for non ALS students, a difference of 1.9%.
This difference has narrowed from a 1.6% gap for 2012/13 entrants to a 1.1% gap for 2014/15 entrants.
As with the pattern for degree outcomes more generally, the Continue Qualify rate for ALS students is broadly stable across the period, ranging from 78.5% for 2014/15 entrants to 77.4% for 2013/14 entrants.
When viewed by qualification on entry, the Continue/Qualify profile by qualification type is similar for ALS and non-ALS students.
Although the profile is broadly similar by qualification type, Continue/Qualify rates for ALS students with A/AS Levels are very slightly higher at 83.7%, compared with 83.1 for non-ALS students.
The 2014/15 Continue/Qualify rate for ALS students with Level 3 Diploma (in. BTEC) is 72.6%, 3.4% higher than the 69.2% rate for non-ALS students.
For other qualification types (HE Access Course, Other Level 3 Qualifications and Other qualifications) Continue/Qualify rates are slightly lower for ALS students.

14. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Undergraduate Award Classification
This information considers students qualifying with an honours degree only; students qualifying with a lower award are not included. Analysis includes all modes of study (part-time, distance learning, etc: not just full-time).
The proportion of First and Upper Second Class degrees awarded has risen from 76.9% in 2015/16 to 80.0% in 2016/17 and 80.8% in 2017/18.
Within this overall rise in the proportion of First and Upper Second Class degrees, the proportion of First Class degrees rose from 20.3% in 2015/16 to 21.6% in 2017/18, a rise of 1.3%, while the proportion of Upper Second class degrees awarded rose by 2.5% from 56.6% in 2015/16 to 59.1% in 2017/18.
There is a variation in the proportion of First and Upper Second Class degrees awarded by Faculty between 86.5% in the Faculty of Media and Communication and 75.8% in the Faculty of Science and Technology.
The Faculty of Media and Communication awarded the highest proportion of First Class degrees, 24.9% of their graduates receiving this classification in 2017/18, while the lowest proportion was awarded in the Faculty of Management (19.7%).

15. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – Tariff Points
An analysis of the relationship between UCAS tariff points on entry and honours classification (for graduating first degree students with a tariff score) shows a relationship between the degree classification awarded and tariff points on entry for those students.
Both measures, degree classification and tariff points, are for the students graduating in the specified year (i.e. 2017/18 tariff points are not for 2017/18 entrants, but for 2017/18 graduates).
Students without a tariff score have been excluded from the analysis.
Mean tariff points of graduating students has fallen since 2015/16 by 15.0 points. Within this overall average, the mean tariff for students graduating with a First or 2:1 has fallen by 20.9 and 17.5 points respectively since 2015/16, while the mean tariff for students graduating with a 2:2 has fallen by only 6.2%.
This differential reduction in tariff points by degree classification shows that the weak correlation between the two is weaker for 2017/18 graduates than in previous years.
The absence of a clear trend for students with a Third is likely to reflect the relatively small population size compared with the other classifications.

16. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – Entry Qualification
Students without a tariff score have been excluded.
Although there is a clear relationship at institutional level between tariff points on entry and degree classification, there is some variation by Faculty.
In particular, mean Tariff points on entry for students graduating with First Class and Upper Second Class degrees in the Faculty of Media and Communication are higher than for other Faculties.

17. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – Tariff Points by Entry Qualification Type
Students without a tariff score have been excluded.
Students with A/AS Levels, Level 3 Diplomas (inc. BTEC), and Other Level 3 qualifications show a correlation between Tariff points on entry and degree classification for First, 2.1 and 2.2 classifications.
Students with HE Access Course qualifications or Other (not Level 3) qualifications do not show as marked or straightforward a relationship between entry qualification and degree classification.

18. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – Ethnic Origin
The proportion of Home BME students graduating with a First or Upper Second class degree in 2017/18 was 69.6%, a rise of 8% from the 2015/16 figure of 61.6%.
This is 13.6% less than the figure of 83.3% for non-BME students, however this has narrowed from a difference of 18.3% between BME and non-BME graduates in 2015/16.
Award classification is influenced by both entry qualification type and tariff points on entry.
The below graphs show that, for each qualification type and tariff band, there is a difference in the proportion of First and 2:1 degrees awarded to BME and non-BME students.

19. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – LPN
The proportion of Young, Home LPN students graduating with a First or Upper Second class degree in 2017/18 was 76.8%, 6.5% less than the figure of 83.3% for non-LPN students.
The below graphs show that there is a difference by entry qualification (-2.8% for A-level; -17.7% for BTEC) in the proportion of First or Upper Second class awards for 2017/18 LPN graduates.
There is no clear correlation between proportion of First and 2:1 degrees and tariff band for LPN students.

20. Full Time Undergraduate Awards – Disability
The proportion of ALS students graduating with a First or Upper Second class degree has risen from 74.1% in 2015/16 to 76.6% in 2017/18. This compares with a 2017/18 figure for non-ALS students of 81.6%, a difference of -5.0%.
With the exception of A-level entry qualifications, relative performance is similar for both ALS and non-ALS students in each qualification type; however A-level is the largest group.
The overall difference in the proportion of First or 2:1 degrees awarded to ALS vs non-ALS students is reflected in the A-level population (for entry qualification) and in tariff bands from 240 upwards.

21. Full-time Postgraduate (Taught) Entrants: Outcomes
As at January 2019, a large proportion of 2017/18 entrants were continuing in 2018/19 (including the majority of students on non-standard academic years) and do not yet have award outcomes as can be seen in the graph opposite. Results shown are for Masters degrees: results for Postgraduate Diplomas and Graduate Diploma in Law (CPE) are not included.
For 2016/17 entrants, 89.2% of Masters level entrants were awarded a Masters Degree, 0.8% received a Postgraduate Diploma, 2.4% received a Postgraduate Certificate, 3.1% were continuing on their programme and 4.5% left without an award.
The graph opposite compares the outcomes by Faculty for 2016/17 entry.
There is some variation in the outcomes by Faculty. The Faculty of Media and Communication has the highest percentage of students graduating with a Masters Degree (91.1%). The lowest proportion was awarded in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (85.0%). The Faculty of Management had a relatively high proportion of 2016/17 students still continuing (5.2%), the majority of which are likely to eventually complete a Masters Degree.

22. 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 Postgraduate Award Classification BU Campus (excl. PI)
The proportion of students awarded a Distinction on a Masters programme rose from 18.9% in 2015/16 to 25.4% in 2017/18.
At the same time, the proportion of students gaining a Merit fell from 58.7% in 2015/16 to 52.7% in 2017/18.
The overall proportion of students gaining a Merit or Distinction has remained similar (a small increase from 77.6% in 2015/16 to 78.1% in 2017/18).
The graph opposite compares award classification by Faculty for 2017/18 students graduating with a Masters degree.
There is some variation in the outcomes by Faculty. The Faculty of Science and Technology and the Faculty of Media and Communication have the highest proportion of students graduating with a Distinction (33.5% and 32.4% respectively), while the Faculty of Management and the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences awarded 16.9% and 17.9% respectively.

23. Postgraduate Research Entrants: Outcomes
The graph opposite shows completion rates of full-time doctoral students, based on initial mode of attendance and maximum qualification aim over the study period.
Time to complete is calculated from the start of the research instance to HESA date left, minus any periods of suspension. The doctoral completion rates presented here include withdrawals in the denominator, which are excluded from the BU Performance Indicator.
Overall completion rate for 2008/09 year of entry is 84.4%. Assuming eventual completion of continuing students, this figure will range between c. 80% (2010/11 entry) and c. 91% (2009/10 entry). Populations are small, ranging from 32 in the 2008/09 cohort to 88 in the 2012/13 cohort which will contribute to the variation.
The proportion of FT students finishing within 4 years, rose from 21.6% for 2012/13 entry (19 from 88 starters) to 40.5% for 2013/14 entry (34 from 84 starters).
Withdrawal rates over the duration of the course are higher for part-time doctoral students, with withdrawal rates of 29.2% and 40.0% for 2008/09 and 2009/10 entrants respectively. Part-time entrants from 2011/12 onwards are shown for context, but completion rates within 7 years may still increase for these cohorts.