Dr. Frances O'Connell:

We did not specifically measure the number of autistic students. I worked in Athlone Institute of Technology as the registrar. We monitored overall completion levels and progression levels. What we found in the general population is that among those who come in on lower level programmes, such as level 6, there is a lower level of progression percentage-wise than those who register for ordinary degrees and level 8. We did not get into the granular level of picking out the autistic students. Again, we will be looking at this as part of our new strategy for student success and evidence-based decisions. We will also be examining whether it is discipline-specific.