I've read posts referring to high drop out rates on doctoral courses. I wonder if anybody had an clue of what percentage this was? Obviously people might drop out for a whole variety of reasons (personal, financial, research problems etc) but I would be interested to know from your experiences of other people or yourselves dropping out what are the key contributors....I haven't even started out yet and I'm already having the 'what if my rsearch hits a brick wall' nightmare!

i dont know the %s u want - but u WILL face that nighmare. Enjoy it

*vomits into waste paper bin* I suppose it is something every phd student has to get over....

& live thru.

http://education.independent.co.uk/graduate_options/article10249.ece

From my experience in Science it is low-if a certain % don't complete the department doesn't get funding so it is closely monitored. I don't know anyone who has failed, as theoretically if they have submitted their (experienced) supervisor has approved their thesis. Corrections are common. Also there is the option to drop out after the 1st year and do an MPhil, someone in my lab did that.

Thanks for all your replies!