Failure/drop out rate at master's

Good day,

Does anybody know about how high (%) the rate of failure at postgraduate level is? I got offered I place for a business master's degree at University of Manchester and I am afraid that I fail. Since this course is quite expensive and I had to work very hard to save the money I am worried.

Maybe I am also worried because I am not sure whether my level of English is sufficient even if I have an IELTS of 7.5. In addition, I graduated (BSc) form University around 4 years ago.

However, my goal is just to pass this degree. Do you think that's realistic?

An answer would be very appreciated.

Thank you.

Reply 1

returnmigrant

The drop out or fail rate wont tell you if *you* will drop out or fail.

A Masters course is expensive, and you need to think very carefully about what, if any, advantage you think it will give you. Realistically, apart from Science/Tech subjects, a Masters probably wont help you get a better job.

Reply 2

suppitupi

Thanks for your answer. Unfortunatel I agree that the drop out/fail rate wont tell me if I fail. Nevertheless, it seems to be an indicator regarding the likelihood that I fail.

Therefore, are there many students failing there masters?

Thanks

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Reply 3

evantej

Original post

by suppitupi

[...] Does anybody know about how high (%) the rate of failure at postgraduate level is? I got offered I place for a business master's degree at University of Manchester and I am afraid that I fail. Since this course is quite expensive and I had to work very hard to save the money I am worried.

Maybe I am also worried because I am not sure whether my level of English is sufficient even if I have an IELTS of 7.5. In addition, I graduated (BSc) form University around 4 years ago.

However, my goal is just to pass this degree. Do you think that's realistic? [...]

There will be no published statistics on this because universities are not obliged to collect data because there is no public funding attached to postgraduate study, with the exception of research council funding where they do monitor this sort of thing. This means the only people who know what the drop out and failure rate is the university themselves, and I would not necessarily take them at face value given they are trying to recruit you for postgraduate study in the first place.

Having said that, I imagine the drop out and failure rate is quite low for a number of reasons. First of all, postgraduate students are selective. It tends only to be the most motivated and smartest students who go onto postgraduate study. These students are less likely to fail in the first place. Secondly, most postgraduate programmes have mechanisms in place to stop failure. For example, if you are on a taught master's degree and struggle with the taught part of the course then they do not let you take the dissertation. This means instead of failing a master's degree the student would graduate with a postgraduate diploma. The same applies with doctoral research too. Thirdly, the group most likely to fail - international students - are the ones which the most support and are the ones monitored most carefully. For example, universities are obliged to submit data on student attendance to the UK Border Agency. There is a strong correlation between attendance and good marks (at all levels of university study). So if international students actually turn up for lessons then there is a good chance they will secure good marks.

Your English is fine as far as I can see. But if you are worried about not being able to cope with the academic demands of the course then one thing you could do is study part-time. This would give you more time to take things in and complete coursework. If you are an international student this is probably not feasible. But if you live in the UK then it is a good way to go.