University drop out rates amongst international students

The request was successful.

Dear University of Nottingham,

Under the Freedom of Information Act I would like to request the
following information:

1. What percentage of students at the university are classed as
‘international’ (annually 2012-2015)?

2. What percentage of students who drop out of the university are
classed as ‘international’ (annually 2012-2015)?

3. What percentage of 'international' students at the university
drop out each year (annually 2012-2015)?

4. What percentage of 'home' students at the university drop out
each year (annually 2012-2015)?

5. Please provide the nationalities (as percentages of the total)
of the 'international' students who have dropped out of the university
each year (annually 2012-2015)? (I.e. their country of permanent
domicile prior to programme entry)

6. What reasons do these 'international' students give for dropping
out of the university?

7. On average, how much money does the university receive each year
in fees from 'international' students (annually 2012-2015)?

I would like to define 'home' students as those from the UK, and
'international' students as all non-UK students (including EU
students). 'Drop out' can include those who leave due to academic
failure. I am interested in full-time, undergraduate, first degree
students only.

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response
within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm in
writing or by email that you have received this request. I look
forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Katie Strick

Freedom-Of-Information, University of Nottingham

Dear Ms Strick

Thank you for your request for information regarding international students. Your request was received on 22 January 2015 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will respond to your request within twenty working days. Please note this is calculated from the following working day from receipt of your request.

I hope that this is of help. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any enquiries regarding this email.

Yours sincerely,
Karen Page

Information Compliance Officer – Freedom of Information
Registrar’s Department

Web: www.nottingham.ac.uk/freedom-of-informat...
Email: [University of Nottingham request email]

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Freedom-Of-Information, University of Nottingham

Dear Ms Strick

Thank you for your request for information regarding international students. Your request was received on 22 January 2015 and is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We need some additional details in order to provide the information you have asked for. I would be grateful if you could clarify whether you would like us to split 'international' and 'home' students based on their nationality or their domicile prior to entry. Nationality and domicile are quite different as students with a British Nationality can have an international/EU domicile and vice versa (foreign national with UK domicile). Please can you confirm if you would like us to breakdown the students by nationality (passport) or domicile (country of residence prior to course).

Unfortunately it will not be possible to comply with your request without this additional information.

We will respond to your request within twenty working days from the date of receiving the clarification requested.

I hope that this is of help. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any enquiries regarding this email.

Yours sincerely,
Karen Page

Information Compliance Officer – Freedom of Information
Registrar’s Department

Web: www.nottingham.ac.uk/freedom-of-informat...
Email: [University of Nottingham request email]

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Dear Freedom-Of-Information,

Thank you for your query.

I would be grateful if you could split the students according to domicile prior to entry.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Katie Strick

Freedom-Of-Information, University of Nottingham

Dear Ms Strick

Thank you for providing clarification which was received on 27 January 2015. Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will respond to your request within twenty working days. Please note this is calculated from the following working day from receipt of your clarification.

I hope that this is of help. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any enquiries regarding this email.

Yours sincerely,
Karen Page

Information Compliance Officer – Freedom of Information
Registrar’s Department

Web: www.nottingham.ac.uk/freedom-of-informat...
Email: [University of Nottingham request email]

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Freedom-Of-Information, University of Nottingham

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Strick

I am writing further to your request for information regarding international student drop outs. A search of our electronic and paper records has been completed and I can confirm that the information requested is held by the University.

Further to your clarification of 27 January 2015 that you would like us to split 'international' and 'home' students based on their domicile prior to entry, please find attached the information requested by academic year.

Please note that the current academic year is not yet complete so the figures for 2014/15 are lower than for other academic years.

For question 5 we have provided you with numbers of students rather than percentages as the figures in many cases are very low. As student numbers are published on our website, it may be possible to extract the number of students by using the percentage.

Where figures are less than 10 we have not specified the exact number as to do so would greatly increase the likelihood of individuals being identified which would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 as these individuals have a reasonable expectation that their personal data will not be released.

We recognise that, from the information provided here alone, it would be difficult to identify the individuals concerned. Nevertheless, under the remits of the Data Protection Act 1998, we note that personal data constitutes that from which the Data Controller can identify an individual. Therefore there may be other information which you could obtain from the University, either through further Freedom of Information requests or other means, that could be used to identify the individuals here. The risk of this is greatly increased where numbers are less than 10 and it is for this reason that we do not specify such small numbers of individuals. Should an individual be identified then the University would be in breach of the First Principle of the Data Protection Act.

If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled and wish to request a review of our response or to make a complaint, please see the attached information sheet and form.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any enquiries regarding this email.

Yours sincerely,
Karen Page

Information Compliance Officer – Freedom of Information Registrar’s Department

Web: www.nottingham.ac.uk/freedom-of-informat...
Email: [University of Nottingham request email]

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