Building on success: increasing higher education retention in London

The GLA commissioned the Social Market Foundation to look at the reasons behind the non-continuation (drop-out) rate of undergraduates studying at London’s higher education institutions.

This report seeks to understand the factors affecting non-continuation and transfers at London universities. London’s non-continuation rate is 7.7%, which is much higher than the English average of 6.3%, and students in London are the most likely to transfer to another university compared to students in the rest of the country. We seek to build on previous SMF work by focusing on why students leave university in London and the report looks in-depth at the differences in retention by ethnicity and socio-economic status. This report draws on qualitative and quantitative evidence. Interviews were conducted with 20 individuals from London who attended and withdrew from a London university and quantitative analysis of HESA data on young students in London between 2013/14 and 2015/16.