ABSTRACT
This chapter opens by listing four questions which the user of performance indicators ought to address, and acknowledges that practical considerations have a bearing on what might be used as an indicator. Two studies of the use of (non-) completion data as performance indicators are then reviewed. The conclusions drawn from these studies are used to underpin propositions regarding how noncompletion data might be used as performance indicators, and the propositions are subsequently subjected to empirical investigation. Some comments are made about the implications for institutional record systems of the proposed methods of calculating non-completion rates, and the chapter ends by recommending indicators which are likely to be particularly useful within the higher education sector.
