Reaching Out: Why Students Leave

The Union of Students in Ireland worked in partnership with the National Forum in 2016 to explore the transition experiences of those students who did not complete their programmes of study in higher education.

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This briefing paper reports on a research project established by the National Forum in partnership with the Union of Students in Ireland, which aimed to inform our understanding of why some students do not progress to the completion of their programmes of study in higher education and to determine how best to support students in their transitions into and through higher education. The study examined, through surveys and interviews, the motivations and experiences of 331 students who did not complete their programmes of study in higher education. The briefing paper adds to the growing evidence base about the challenges that students face in their transitions into and through higher education in Ireland.

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National Forum, and Union of Students in Ireland (USI) (07/08/2026). Reaching out: why students leave. National Resource Hub (Ireland). Retrieved from: https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/reaching-out-why-students-leave/ License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).

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