03 September 2010
Reference: FoI-111
Dear Mr Taylor,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION I am writing in response to the request you made to BBSRC under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
Statement of Information Requested
You requested the following information:
For all those who have started a BBSRC funded postgraduate studentship in each of
the last ten years could you please release the absolute number, and percentage,
who have eventually graduated with a PhD.
Duty to Confirm or Deny
I confirm that BBSRC does not hold the information relevant to your request.
Background
The Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) is one of seven
Research Councils that work together as Research Councils UK. It is funded from
the Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. BBSRC's current
budget is £450M and it supports around 1,600 scientists and 2,000 research students
in universities and institutes in the UK. Information about BBSRC’s mission can be
found on our website:
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/organisation/mission.aspx. Information about BBSRC studentships can be found at
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/studentships/studentships-index.aspx.
Information Requested
BBSRC does not hold information on the number of its postgraduate students who
eventually graduate with a PhD. BBSRC publishes information on the proportion of
students who submit their thesis for examination within four years of starting, and this
is available in BBSRC Annual Report and Accounts available on BBSRC website at
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/publications/accounts/accounts-index.aspx . This information
is available in the Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 2002/03 onwards.
In common with the other Research Councils, BBSRC does not collect information on
PhD students’ graduation, but rather on thesis submission. Research Councils
expect departments to achieve a four-year submission rate of at least 70%, and
submission rate is taken to be a useful and proportionate indicator of the
effectiveness of a department’s support and monitoring procedures for its students.
BBSRC uses submission rate, for example, in its studentship competitions in order to
help ensure that it is investing in departments with a strong track record in supporting
its students. Graduation date is felt to be less useful as the time between
submission, examination and degree award is often outside of the control of the
department or the student. However, universities are required to provide qualification
data to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), and the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE) which has recently used these to publish a
report on PhD completion rates by institution (please see the following link
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2010/10_21/).
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting the reference
number above.
Yours sincerely,
Ksymena Okonska
Freedom of Information Officer
BBSRC
Complaints Process
If you are dissatisfied with how we have handled your request, you may register a
formal complaint with the BBSRC Complaints Officer at
[email address], who will conduct an internal review.
If you are not happy with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner, Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 01625 545 745,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
