Developing a typology of unit failure to improve student support

The legislated Support for Students Policy and associated reporting requirements ask universities to monitor, track and iterate support systems to improve student outcomes. However, we lack a detailed framework to conceptualise and report on student failure. This emerging initiative addresses this deficit. A retrospective quantitative analysis of 88,828 student grades over 3 years, including individual assessment performance, uncovers the submission patterns and success of students en route to unit failure. Unit failures of students are classified according to a novel, 4-category typology of unit failure, highlighting contrasting experiences: the most common category was students who “Submit then Stop” but achieved more than 60% of the available marks of the assessment/s in which they submitted (25%); zero-fails were the next common type at 21% while only 19% of students submitted all assessment items. These unit failures represent vastly different student experiences and targeted student support may vary accordingly.