There has been a rise in the drop-out rate at UK universities, figures show. Annual performance indicators from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show 7.4% of young undergraduates left after a year in 2007 against 7.1% in 2006. State school pupils made up 88% of young undergraduates, up from 87.8%, and 9.7% were from low participation neighbourhoods, up from 9%. The government is asking for funding council advice about the wide variations between institutions. Statisticians have predicted that increasing numbers will drop out as more people go into higher education from so-called non-traditional backgrounds, who do not have the experience of relatives and wider social networks to draw on. As a result they are less likely to have a good understanding of what university will be like, and are less well supported if they do run into problems. The UHI Millennium Institute had the worst drop-out record by far, with a third (33.1%) of students no longer in higher education after their first year. It illustrates the link with wider access. UHI delivers courses through a network of partner colleges "in a radically innovative and different way" to most institutions. In a statement, it said it sought to provide opportunities to as many students as possible from a range of backgrounds, many living at home with personal circumstances affecting their ability to study. "Many are also studying full time while in full-time employment, or are studying because employment opportunities are not available. "It is not surprising, therefore, that some may drop out if personal circumstances or employment opportunities change." The University of Bolton had a failure rate of 18.1%. At the other end of the table, no-one left the Courtauld Institute of Art and just 0.6% of young Cambridge undergraduates dropped out. There were also wide variations in the proportions of students from state schools. These ranged from almost everyone in Northern Ireland's institutions - with its grammar school system - to just over 40% at the English music specialists, the Royal College and the Royal Academy. Overall the numbers going to university from state schools and low participation neighbourhoods were records - but the proportion of first year students who were from lower socio-economic groups fell slightly, from 29.8% to 29.5%.

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