Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students known to have dropped out of third level education in each of the past four years to date for whatever reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3126/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The HEA which is responsible for the collection of data on student progression does not have the information requested.
The most recent report by the HEA entitled 'A study of Progression in Higher Education' is available on the HEA website. The attached table from the report illustrates the non-presence rates of new entrants in their second year of study by sector, NFQ level and course duration. New entrants are classified as 'not present' if they do not appear in the statistical returns of that institution in the following academic year. The proportion of new entrants in 2007/08 who were not present one year later was 15% on average across all sectors and NFQ Levels. Prior educational attainment is a very significant factor.
The HEA is currently in the process of working on an analysis of retention rates in the universities and institutes of technology. This has only recently become possible due to a full population of SRS (Student Record System) data becoming available for a period spanning five years.

Non-Presence Rates for New Entrants by Sector and NFQ Level (2008/09).