Female students ahead in survey

FEMALE business students performed nearly 10 per cent better in their first year than their male colleagues, a study that tested admissions details against results shows.

The study, by John Hartwright, admissions co-ordinator at Newcastle Business School, tracked 150 first-year students from the business school to examine how A-level grades, place of residence, age, gender, school and whether or not students were at their first choice of institution affected performance. It found a link did exist between A-level grades and overall percentage achieved in the first year, although those with lower grades performed better than the grades might have suggested.

Mr Hartwright said: "Since these were very exceptional and were all based on discretion surrounding personal circumstances, this merely serves to support the case that discretion is sometimes justifiable."

He found living at home appeared to make very little difference to how well students performed. Nor did their results seem to be affected by whether they came from private schools, state schools, sixth-form or further education colleges.

While those attending the course and institution they had originally planned to join performed better in the first semester, by the end of the year they were no less likely to fail or leave the course than other students.

Overall, mature students performed at a similar level to younger students but they were three times as likely to withdraw from the course.