The University Times has requested information about the number of undergraduate and postgraduate students who have formally withdrawn from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 academic years. Figures provided by the College show that withdrawal rates for postgraduate masters students have significantly decreased over the past four academic years, while rates fluctuate for postgraduate doctorate students and undergraduate students.
The undergraduate data includes only degree programs, excluding foundation, validated, visiting, certificate and diploma courses. For postgraduates, only traditional and taught frameworks are included, excluding Years one and two. Research master’s programs are included, while validated and visiting postgraduate data are excluded.
Undergraduate Students
In 2020-21, 263 of the 14,290 undergraduate students at TCD formally withdrew from their academic programmes. The withdrawal rate doubled the following year, with 423 withdrawing in 2021-22. It then went down slightly in 2022-23 at 413 and again in 2023-24 at 365.
The majority of these students were multi-school in the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science (EMS) and students who were multi-faculty and multi-school across the college during all four school years. The highest withdrawal rate for multi-faculty and multi-school students occurred in 2022-23, with 104 of those students withdrawing that year, including 87 students from EMS.
None of the undergraduate students who withdrew during those years were part of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, unless they were enrolled in more than one programme in different schools, for which the number peaked at 41 in 2021-22, or studied English, for which the total rate was 10. No one withdrew from the Dental Science programme in the Faculty of the Health Sciences during those years.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) found that the number of first-year students in Ireland who did not progress into the following year increased by three percentage points from 2020-21 to 2021-22 at 15%. While TCD data also shows an increase between those years, the data we received from the College provides figures for any students who registered and subsequently withdrew in the given academic year, not just first years.
The 2021-22 figure represents a sharp increase from an all-time low during 2019-2020 at 9% during the COVID-19 pandemic when Irish colleges and universities transitioned to online lectures and coursework during the second semester.
Postgraduate Students
While more than half of the students who withdrew from their academic programmes in 2020-21 were postgraduate masters students, the number decreased over the past four years. In 2020-21, 341 masters students of 6,054 total postgraduate students withdrew. The number dropped to 183 in 2021-22 and then not much further in 2022-23 at 181. Last year, 154 masters students left their academic programmes.
Postgraduate doctorate programmes saw 42 students withdraw in 2020-21. Like masters, the difference between the two following years are close at 54 and 53. The rate decreased by more than half in 2023-24 at only 19 students.
Non-progression rates are highest amongst disadvantaged students, at 23%, and the lowest amongst affluent students at 12%, according to HEA. Students withdraw from their programmes for various reasons, including mental health challenges, accommodation costs, long commutes, and the effects of the pandemic.
Last year, TD Richard Boyd Barrett asked Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to address the non-progression rate increase. Harris responded that he sought to support students in Budget 2024 by reducing fees, increasing grants, extending the rental tax credit and securing an additional €60 million in core funding for universities. “This means more academic tutors, guidance, medical assistance, mental health supports and counselling and other support services that could be vital to many students.”
However, as Barrett notes, the Government admitted to a shortfall of €307 million in core funding for higher education that was not addressed in Budget 2024 nor the Budget 2025.
