Abstract
The massive increase in the proportion of mature students in higher education has not been accompanied by adequate quantitative studies of their performance relative to conventional students and of the value added by higher education in relation to their entry qualifications. The limitations of published studies are identified. This paper reports a quantitative study undertaken at Oxford Brookes University on the performance of 1,222 students who graduated in 1994. Student performance was shown to increase with age after taking account of sex, entry qualifications and the type of course studied. Students entering the course in their thirties had three times the chance of gaining a good degree than equivalent students aged twenty and under. This relative performance advantage for mature students was established in their first year of study. Mature students entered with poorer qualifications and so the value added by Oxford Brookes University was shown to be greater for mature students. Practical implications and avenues for further study are discussed.
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