Factors associated with differential attainment among transnational students on an online distance learning programme

The gender and ethnicity attainment gap among undergraduate students in UK higher education is well documented. However, there is very little research examining the international attainment gap despite many universities acknowledging that international students achieve lower grades than home students. Furthermore, evidence for international postgraduate students is almost missing from the literature. This study analysed data on 705 students registered on an online distance learning (ODL) postgraduate programme to explore demographic characteristics and educational experience in relation to grade point average (GPA). The research shows that the strongest predictor of student outcome on this Master's programme was ethnicity and while there was an additional effect of region of birth, classifying students on the basis of ‘home' or ‘international', is seriously misleading when examining student performance, at least for this postgraduate programme. Postgraduate ODL programmes in the United Kingdom may need to develop additional support to enable particular groups of learners, including international black and ethnic minority (BAME) students to get the most out of their learning experience.