In 2022/23, the Open University, which focuses on remote learning, had approximately ******* students enrolled on courses, the highest in the UK during that academic year. After the Open University, University College London had the highest number of students in the UK, at ******, while the University of Manchester had the second-highest, at ******. The UK's oldest university, The University of Oxford, had approximately ****** students studying there.

In 2022/23 there were estimated to be over **** million students enrolled in higher education courses in the United Kingdom, which was the highest number of enrolled students during this provided time period. Although the number of students in the UK fell from *** million in 2011/12 to **** by 2014/15, this trend reversed in subsequent years, reaching the peak in the most recent year. Largest UK universities At ******* students, the mainly remote, Open University had the largest number of students enrolled among UK-based higher education institutions in 2022/23. University College London had the second-highest number of students at ******, followed by the University of Manchester at ******. At the UK's two oldest and most prestigious universities, Oxford and Cambridge, there were ******, and ****** students respectively. The university with the most students in Scotland was the University of Glasgow at *******students, with Wales' being Cardiff University at ****** students, and Northern Ireland's Ulster University having ****** students. Student Debt in the UK For students that graduated from English universities in 2024, the average student loan debt incurred over the course of their studies was over ****** British pounds. Although students graduated with less debt from universities in Wales, Northern Ireland, and especially Scotland, this too has been growing recently. In 2024, students from Scottish Universities graduated with an average of ****** pounds of debt, compared with ****** in Wales, and ****** in Northern Ireland. The overall outstanding student loan debt in the UK reached over *** billion pounds in 2023/24, with the vast majority of this debt from students who studied in England.

Students from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest entry rate into higher education in every year from 2006 to 2024.

The University of Oxford was the top ranked university in the UK in 2025, and was given an overall score of 98.5 by Times Higher Education, while the University of Cambridge had the second highest score of 97.4. The third and fourth highest ranked Universities were all located in London.

Out of the ten highest-ranked universities in the United Kingdom, The University of Edinburgh had the most residential buildings for the calendar year 2021/2022, with a total of *** at that time. The University of Bristol and the University of Manchester constituted the remainder of the top three, with *** and ** buildings, respectively.

For the academic year of 2024/2025, the University of Oxford was ranked as the best university in the world, with an overall score of 98.5 according the Times Higher Education. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University followed behind. A high number of the leading universities in the world are located in the United States, with the ETH Zürich in Switzerland the highest ranked neither in the United Kingdom nor the U.S.

In the 2022/23 academic year, 30 percent of undergraduates obtaining their degree were awarded a degree with first-class honors, the highest possible grade for UK graduates. Almost half of all students achieved an upper second or 2.1, with 20 percent obtaining a lower second or 2.2, and just four percent of graduates obtained a third, the lowest possible pass grade. The share of UK students graduating with a first-class degree has increased significantly in this time period, while the share of students obtaining a 2.2 has fallen the most in the same time period. GCSE and A-Level grades also on the rise Higher grades for the UK's main qualification for high school students, the general certificate of secondary education (GCSE), have also increased recently. In 1988 for example, approximately 8.4 percent of GCSE entries received the highest grade, compared with 21.8 percent in 2024. This is also the case to a lesser-extent for advanced level GCSE results (A-Levels), with the share of entries being awarded an A or A* increasing from 17.8 percent in 2000 to 27.8 percent in 2024. There is no consensus on if these improvements are due to increased ability, or to grade inflation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, grades in the UK were a lot higher than in other years. This was due to teacher and tutor assessments being giving a higher weighting than normal, with exams being postponed or cancelled completely. The UK's top universities Britain's oldest and most famous universities, Cambridge and Oxford, remained the two highest-ranked universities in the UK in 2025, with the London School of Economics finishing third. According to the ranking, the University of St Andrews was the top university outside the south of England, with Durham University being the highest-ranked university in the north of England. The largest university in terms of enrolled students was the mainly remote focused Open University, which had over 140,000 students in 2022/23. Among universities that mainly taught on-campus, University College London had the most students enrolled, at almost 52,000.

This statistic shows the application rate, by ethnic group, of 18-year-old pupils from English state schools to United Kingdom (UK) universities in 2013. Of pupils of Chinese origin, 56 percent applied to a university in 2013, the highest application rate of any ethnic group.

Data on the top universities for Computer Science in 2025.

UK Student Accommodation Market is segmented by accommodation type (Halls of residence, Rented houses or rooms, Private student accommodation), by location (City Center, Periphery), by rent type (basic rent, total rent), by mode (Online, Offline). The report offers market size and values in (USD million) during the forecasted years for the above segments.

Data on the top universities for Social Sciences in 2025, including disciplines such as Communication & Media Studies, Geography, and Sociology.

Data on the top universities for Engineering in 2025, including disciplines such as Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Full resource found at: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/big-deal-knowledge-base

Sourcing: Pricing Data: Individual entries are linked to third party resources within the database; non-linked entries come from Freedom of Information requests (courtesy of Ted Bergstrom and Paul Courant). FTE Data: UK Higher Education Statistics Agency for UK FTE (HE student enrollment FTE + HE staff); DOE IPEDS for US FTE (“Full-time equivalent fall enrollment” + “Total FTE staff”); Universities Canada and COPPUL for Canadian FTE (student data only). Institutional Categories: Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Data on the top universities for Physical Sciences in 2025, including disciplines such as Chemistry, Geology, and Physics & Astronomy.

Data on the top universities for Medical and Health in 2025, including disciplines such as Medicine and Dentistry, and Other Health Subjects.

Data on the top universities for Psychology in 2025.

Data on the top universities for Law in 2025.

In the academic year of 2022/32, more than ******* Chinese students were studying in the United Kingdom. The number of Chinese students studying in British higher education institutions increased by more than ** percent in the last decade. An attractive destination for Chinese students In recent years, the United Kingdom has overtaken the United States as the top choice among the destination countries for Chinese prospective students. The more affordable tuition fees in the country compared to destinations such as the United States and Australia, the shorter duration of the postgraduate programs, and the reputation of British universities as seen in international rankings have all contributed to the high popularity of the United Kingdom among Chinese students and employers. The diversification of international study destinations At the same time, destinations for Chinese students have become more diverse. The high academic and research performance of the United States in many sectors continues to make it a desirable destination for affluent Chinese students. For students from middle-class or less well-off backgrounds, studying in places such as Japan, Germany, and France are more practical options as these countries offer more affordable programs.

In 2022/23 the overall annual expenditure of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately **** billion British pounds, an increase on the previous year.

India has the most universities worldwide. According to data from July 2023, there were an estimated ***** universities in India. Indonesia had the second most universities, counting *****, followed by the United States with ***** universities.