Wider access, gender and student attainment at old and new universities

At the University of Paisley, an on-going research project has been following the progress of the cohort of students who were new entrants to the University in academic session 2000/01. Much has been learned about performance, progression and persistence within this cohort, and in particular, the influence of demographic characteristics on first year performance. Gender, age and entry qualifications have been shown to interact in complex ways to determine both academic performance and the decision to continue with study into the following academic session. Attention in this paper focuses on how gender differences in academic performance evolve over time and influence year-on-year progression towards achievement of an exit award.