In a "stellar" outcome, the University of Otago has topped the country in all but one of the official key indicators measuring the educational performance of university students.
The Tertiary Education Commission’s Educational Performance Indicators (EPIs) for last year examine areas such as overall course and qualification completions, retention rates and progression to higher levels of study.
In a just-released report, the usual four indicators have this year been supplemented by two new performance indicators: one looks at first-year student retention and the other is a revised qualification completion measure.
Vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne said Otago’s "stellar outcome" reflected the excellence of the university’s "teaching and learning environment" and the efforts that students put into their studies.
Prof Hayne paid tribute to the hard work of Otago students, which had enabled them to make the most of the "rich opportunities" offered at Otago and had resulted in the university’s "dazzling results" and a "near clean sweep of first placings" among the country’s eight universities.
Otago placed first in the "Students retained in study" (90%) and a very close second in the "First year retention rate" (82%) indicators.
It was first in "Completion of qualifications" (85%), "Cohort-based qualification completion" (70%) and "EFTS-weighted course completion" (89%).
The university also led the way in "Progression to higher levels of study" (95%).
That figure reflected the continuing success of Otago’s Foundation Year in preparing students for university-level study, Prof Hayne said.
Otago University was committed to providing its students with "enriching learning and living settings" that supported their pursuit of academic excellence.
Otago University is also among the world’s top 2%-3% of universities, having been ranked in the 201-250 band in the influential Times Higher Education World University Rankings announced last month, and 169th in the latest QS World University Rankings.
And Prof Hayne said that, in another "superb performance" earlier this year, for the fifth year running, the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for tertiary teaching excellence had gone to an Otago University academic.
The overall achievements confirmed Otago University’s status as a "leading teaching and learning institution" that offered its students "world-class opportunities for academic success and personal growth", she said.