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New Zealand has one of the lowest reported higher education qualification completion rates in the OECD, significantly below Australia. Why do so many New Zealand students not complete their qualification? This paper looks behind some of the numbers in an attempt to understand better and assess New Zealand's performance compared with Australia and internationally. It looks, for example, at the impact of part-time and partial qualification study on completion rates. New Zealand has the highest reported level of part-time study in the OECD, and one in eight bachelor's degree students in New Zealand pass every subject they've enrolled in, yet have not completed their degree after five years. What does this tell us about intentions and about how we should gauge success? The paper takes another look at some international comparisons focusing on full-time students, and also looks at the impact of transfers, changing qualifications, and what happens to rates when a ten-year window is taken instead of a five-year window. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students are considered to be the main 'customers' in universities and polytechnics and increasingly they seek to have their needs met. This is one of the main reasons for persistent calls for the improvement of teaching in higher education. Tutors play an important role in the delivery of undergraduate education, although they are often perceived as a 'neglected' or 'invisible' group. This paper assesses students' perceptions of tutors and the factors that contribute to their learning in a New Zealand university. Survey questionnaires were administered to management students at the end of their course, to gather information on their perceptions of tutor effectiveness and to reflect on their overall tutorial experiences. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken of the data collected. The results supported the initial hypotheses that the learning environment, positive and constructive feedback and stimulating tutorials improve student learning and lead to higher levels of student satisfaction with their learning experiences at university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the results of the first comprehensive longitudinal study of qualification retention, completion and progression in tertiary education in New Zealand. Of the cohort of domestic students which started a qualification at a public tertiary education provider in 1998, 40% had gained a qualification by the end of 2002, 9% were still studying, and 51% had left without gaining a qualification. For the cohort of students who completed a qualification in 2001, 15% continued study at a higher level in 2002, 24% continued at the same or a lower level, while 62% left study. Significant variations exist for different demographic and study-related subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]