55% drop out rate on dd's preferred uni course!

[Scabbersley]

DD has finally settled on a degree choice and is excited about open days etc etc. She's looking at quite a vocational degree. I was looking at a few of the colleges/unis that she likes and her preferred one has a 55% drop out rate Is this normal?!

What's the course?

No. It is very very high! What is the course?

I think if it's a vocational degree it's normal for high drop-outs as peoolevresluse it's not really their vocation. When I started my MA (also quite vocational) there were 22 on the course, and only 4 of us graduated. If it's what she really wants and she's dedicated then she might be one of the 45

Sports science

Hmm. What’s the drop out rate for that course at other institutions?

Nowhere near that. Im sure it can't be right. It's not Russell group but it's a good institution with great facilities and gold in the teaching framework. We liked it when we we t to see it.

DD did these many moons ago , it included subjects like statistics and law that might put people off if it's still the case.

It may be “science” bit. Some students possibly expect all day sport. I wonder if the course director can give you a greater insight? Are they recruiting unsuitable students who then find it tough?

ds is doing sport and exercise science (just finishing first year) and when we looked around at non RG places none of them had such a high drop out rate. I would be very wary. I think lots of people don't realise quite how much science is required and some courses involve an awful lot of maths so look carefully at the course content. I would steer clear even if it claims to have the best facilities in the land. When we did the rounds of open days there was one particular institution which boasted about its use of national facilities and various links in the industry but when ds asked the students who were showing him around more about it, he discovered that the opportunities were not available until the 3rd year and then only if you picked a particular module. Beware the hard sell.

Nowhere else has such a high drop out rate, even places at the absolute bottom of the league tables. I wonder if its a mistake!!

Agree the science/maths element may often be underestimated. Does it traditionally take clearing and lower grade students, who may find the step up in level hard or assessment more formal than they are used to. Does the uni overall have good student satisfaction scores and low drop out?

Get your DD to fire an email to the university and ask them?

What careers are open to people with this degree?

Sports coaching soochef
Also sports teaching if you do a ogce after
Sports therapy
Sports psychology
Sports business management
Quite a lot actually

Yes she's emailed them so I'll let you know
Yes good student satisfaction scores

That can't possibly be the right %

Are you sure it’s not 5.5%?

Unless they only have 2 students on the course to start with

Slightly off-topic, I do wish when careers guidance listed “these are the jobs you could do with this degree” they stated “and this is the number of people currently employed in those jobs vs the number of people graduating with that degree”. Actually there’s a really good Sunday Times supplement to be written there for someone who’s prepared to put in the grunt work.

If only 2 people started and the drop out rate was 55%, something dreadful has happened to the remaining student.

@UnimaginativeUsername and it's probably not helping with the sports part.

Yes Event. The way the information is presented is misleading.

UnimaginativeUsername ha ha!

There's no need to be snippy about jobs - there are plenty of jobs in sport out there. I'd say it's more useful than English lit (me) and geography (dh)

Dd wants to be a sports coach. She does it already in a lowly capacity and she's great at it. Or a sports teacher.

What careers are open to people with this degree
ds is currently considering 3. He has just got a performance analysis internship with a premiership football team and would love to do that once he graduates but is also considering sports psychology and teaching as a fallback.