Oxford’s chemists, biologists and linguists are most likely to drop out of the University, a Cherwell investigation has found.
According to information released to Cherwell by 16 different colleges, the number of dropouts within the past five years reflects a considerable tendency for those studying chemistry, biology and modern languages to withdraw.
When compared to other universities, however, Oxford has one of the lowest drop-out rates in the country. According to figures published in the spring of last year, only 1 per cent of Oxford students drop out, compared to 7.2 per cent nationally.
Considering the proportions of Oxford’s colleges, Somerville has retained the highest dropout rate, losing 30 students since 2005. It is followed closely by Christ Church, which has lost 23 students, and St Hilda’s and Wadham, each losing 22.
At each of these colleges, females constituted over 50 per cent of the total withdrawals.
Since 2006, Chemistry has produced the most withdrawals of any subject—roughly 13 per cent of the total dropouts within the past five years. For the past two years almost a quarter of the dropouts were Chemistry students.
Zoe O’Shea, a second year Chemist at Lincoln, was asked why she thought Chemistry had such a high drop-out rate. She said, “The course is a lot harder that I thought it would be before I got here. There are things on the course that could be structured better to make it more manageable.
“Chemistry is the kind of subject that you have to enjoy to stay motivated and I understand how the stress of Chemistry could get to some people,” she added.
Subjects such as Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology accounted for ten per cent of drop-outs.
This sets the two courses apart from the other science-based subjects. Withdrawals from Physics only constituted six per cent of the total number; Medicine was just two per cent.
Since 2005, Merton has only seen five students leave; Jesus College only two. Exeter serves as an example of the general dynamics concerning both gender and subject. Over the past five years, six out of its eight withdrawals were women. In 2006/7, three female students withdrew, from Chemistry, English and History. The next year, only one female Engineering student dropped out.
In 2008/9 there was another series of withdrawals from scientific subjects; Chemistry, Medicine and Physics. 2009/10 saw only one more withdrawal, a student in Physics and Philosophy.
The withdrawal data of all the colleges did show that students dropped out from a range of courses, from Psychology to Music to Classical Archaeology. But the gap in withdrawal numbers between most subjects and the top three has been consistently wide for the past five years.
As a Cherwell investigation three weeks ago found, a number of students choose to swap subjects rather than drop-out altogether.
