Compared to the huge splash made with coverage of the recent data release on degree classifications, you’d be forgiven for not spotting the OfS’ update of the student characteristics outcomes data.
This is a real shame, as this unassuming release is probably one of the most useful timeseries the regulator maintains.
Did you know, for instance, that:
- Mature (21 and over) full time first degree students are 9 percentage points less likely to continue their studies beyond year one than their younger peers?
- Those studying a first degree full time at their local university are 5.1 percentage points less likely to progress to a “good” destination than those who study at a university not local to their pre-application address?
- Those from the most deprived quintile of small areas are 18 percentage points less likely than their less deprived peers to get a “good” full time first degree?
- Black students are 7.5 percentage points less likely to complete their full time first degree than their white peers?
- And that all of the above gaps have widened between the last two available years of data?
