Improving Recruitment and Retention of Students from Local (SE Wales) Schools to HE Computing/ICT Courses

In recent years, the numbers of students applying for undergraduate courses in ICT/Computing have continued to fall [9]. This is a national trend and is a matter of concern for Higher Education (HE) Institutions. Another matter of concern is the retention rate of first-year Computing students [2]. Research has shown that one of the reasons why students drop out in the first year is the wrong choice of course. One of the contributing factors is misinformed preconceptions about what Computing courses entail [3]. It is important, therefore, that an understanding is gained of pupils ’ perception of Computing courses in HE in order to provide targeted information to attract and retain the right pupils onto these courses. This research investigates the perceptions and expectations held by potential students about ICT/Computing courses in HE and how the expectations of existing students have been met. This will inform the development of an action pla