B.A. (Hons.), Dip. Tchg.,

Teaching Fellow

Victoria University.

Editor, "The Transition from School to University," N.Z.U.S.A., 1965

(Seminar proceeding.)

In 1963, first-year university students drawn from the Wellington district were about as academically successful as their counterparts of previous years: "Freshers" studying full-time failed about 30 per cent of the total units they collectively enrolled for; part-time first-year students fared somewhat worse, failing 53 per cent of their units.

To place these comments in sharper perspective we could note that in 1963 about 25 per cent of all first-year, full-time students passed at the most one unit: in that same year, 50 per cent, part-time first-year students passed no units at all.¹

These rather bald statistics are not presented for their shock-value; the purpose is not to scare, or coerce freshers into working harder, or burning the midnight oil.

They are presented in order to highlight the fact that students who do well at school are not necessarily as successful at university.

Why students "fail" at their university studies, and what can be done about failure, constitute incredibly complex and often poorly understood problems; in this brief article I will attempt to emphasise some contemporary ideas on these subjects.