16 May 2018 
 
 
 
Sarah Allison 
 
By email: [FYI request #7665 email] 
 
 
Dear Ms. Allison 
 
Official Information Act Request 
 
I refer to your request for information of 19 April 2018 where you requested the following 
information: 
 
1. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from Indonesia complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have 
dropped out? 
 
2. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from Malaysia complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have 
dropped out? 
 
3. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from India complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have dropped 
out? 
 
4. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from China complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have dropped 
out? 
 
5. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from the United States complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have 
dropped out? 
 
6. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from the UK complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have dropped 
out? 
 
7. Within five years of commencing their studies what proportion of international PhD 
students from Canada complete their doctoral degree and what proportion have dropped 
out? 
 

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Please find the requested information in the table below. Please note that the 2012 cut-off 
date was used because a student starting any later would not fall within the five-year time 
frame that your request relates to. 
 
'Completion' figures include all candidates who graduated with an award. In some cases, 
students who first enrol for a doctoral degree may, for a variety of reasons, complete with 
a Master’s degree. They may elect at some point to transfer to a Master’s programme, or 
they may be awarded a Master’s degree in respect of a thesis that does not meet the 
standard required for a PhD. It would not be possible to separate these figures, so they have 
been included together here.  
 
Your phrase ‘dropped out’ is being taken to refer to those students who do not complete a 
qualification. Some of those may elect to withdraw for a variety of reasons at any stage in 
their candidature. Others may have their candidature terminated by the University. 
 
In some cases, the percentage figures do not add up to 100% -- this is because one or 
more student is still enrolled in their degree.  
 
Commenced study 
USA 
China 
India 
Malaysia 
Indonesia 
UK 
Canada 
(2008‐2012) 
Completed 
53 
27
16
37
16 
43 
19
Total  
Dropped 
numbers  out 
17 
8
6
12
3 
9 
4
Completed 
75% 
75%
64%
76%
84% 
80% 
79%
Average 
% 
Dropped 
out 
24% 
22%
24%
24%
16% 
17% 
17%
 
 
Yours sincerely 
 
 
 
Professor Mike Wilson 
Acting Vice-Provost (Research) 
 
 
 
 

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