Retention of learners is a key issue for Access to Higher Education (HE) providers and can have a big impact on achievement, success rates and funding.
Gateway Qualifications worked with our approved providers to conduct a deep and wide-ranging investigation into achievement and retention rates to establish the reasons that learners withdraw and do not complete their chosen Diploma.
The investigation revealed that learners’ health issues, and predominantly mental health issues, were the leading negative impact factor on retention rates. Juggling busy work and family lives, and all the pressure that this brings when combined with the demands of their studies can be a stress factor that too often results in learners leaving study before they reach the end.
To help our Centres and learners tackle these issues, we worked with a leading mental health charity to develop a new unit in Promoting Wellbeing and Building Resilience.
The unit is intended to develop learners’ understanding of wellbeing and ways to build resilience to cope with the pressures in their study as well as other factors both during their Access to HE course and when they progress to higher education.
The ungraded unit is available on all of our Access to HE Diplomas to enable providers to support their learners considering an Access to HE Diploma.
The unit provides learners with the knowledge, understanding and guidance on where they can seek help and the strategies that they can use in order to reduce the impact that stresses many have on their studies and home life.