ABSTRACT
Since 1997 the government has made improving post-16 student retention a priority in an attempt to increase progress towards meeting the national learning targets in 2002. Retention was becoming a concern in 1993; the National Audit Office reported that 30 per cent of 16-plus students who started A level courses failed to complete them (OFSTED/Audit Commission, 1993). In 2000, 3.8 million students were studying 17,000 different qualifications in the 417 post-16/FE colleges in England, which is twice the number of students who are registered on undergraduate and postgraduate courses in higher education institutions. Progress towards the targets has been slow (see Table 4.1) and it is only by increasing participation and then retaining students on the courses on which they enrol through good teaching, guidance and support that further progress can be made.
