This bulletin is the annual first release of HESA student data. It covers data about higher education students and qualifiers from the following types of providers within the UK:

Higher education (HE) providers in England registered with the Office for Students (OfS) in the Approved (fee cap) or Approved categories; Publicly funded HE providers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and Further education (FE) colleges in Wales. These providers submit data to HESA via either the Student record or the Student alternative record. This is the first year that data from both records have been combined together in the figures within this release to provide a more complete picture of higher education within the UK. Further details on coverage can be seen in the notes section of this release. For users wishing to undertake time-series analysis that make use of data drawn exclusively from the HESA Student record (and therefore comparable with the coverage of tables and charts published in previous issues of this bulletin) an option is provided to 'Download source data 051 record only (csv)' underneath each table and chart.

This bulletin also includes information from the HESA Aggregate offshore record and can be seen in figure 12. This separate record counts students studying wholly outside the UK who are either registered with the reporting HE provider or who are studying for an award of the reporting HE provider.

This data provides information on students taught through the medium of Welsh at Higher Education Institutions in Wales. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collect data on students, staff and resources of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. The data presented in this table is taken from HESA's Student Record which contains information on all students enrolled on credit bearing courses at UK HEIs. Further information about HESA and their data collections can be found on their website www.hesa.ac.uk This is a new dataset, it differs from the data in the archived dataset titled: Students in Wales with teaching through the medium of Welsh by subject and Welsh speaking ability due to a change from JACS subject coding to HECOS subject coding. More details on the HECOS subject coding can be found on the HESA webpage: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos The Student Record contains information about individual enrolments, which, because a student can be enrolled on more than one programme of study, will exceed the number of students. However, previous analysis has shown that for Welsh HEIs full-time enrolments are less than 1 per cent higher than full-time student numbers; part-time enrolments are less than 2 per cent higher than part-time student numbers. Postdoctoral students are not included in the HESA Student Record. Students being taught through the medium of Welsh are defined as students studying at least one module with a non-zero proportion of teaching through the medium of Welsh. See dimension notes for more detail.

This bulletin is the annual first release of HESA student data. For the first time it draws upon data from the revised student data collection (delivered by the Data Futures programme). A comprehensive quality assessment has been undertaken on the dataset and this is detailed in our accompanying 2022/23 student data quality report. A detailed list of findings is available in the data quality and insights resource, which is also accompanied by provider specific data notes. The coverage of data is detailed in the notes section of this release. In summary, we cover data about higher education students and qualifiers from the following types of providers within the UK: Higher education (HE) providers in England registered with the Office for Students (OfS) in the Approved (fee cap) or Approved categories; Publicly funded HE providers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; and Further education (FE) colleges in Wales. This bulletin also includes information from the HESA Aggregate Offshore record which can be seen in Figure 12. This separate record counts students studying wholly outside the UK who are either registered with the reporting HE provider or who are studying for an award of the reporting HE provider.

These data provide information about the participation of certain groups that are under-represented in higher education.

The data includes the percentage of students from state schools or colleges, specified socio-economic classes and low-participation neighbourhoods and provide a breakdown by Higher Education institution.

Included in the table are Young full-time undergraduate entrants and Mature full-time undergraduate entrants.

See interactive maps

Much more data is available from the HESA website.

Related to: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2060

In 2022/23 there were estimated to be over 2.94 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 2.5 million in 2011/12 to 2.27 by 2014/15, this trend reversed in subsequent years, reaching the peak in the most recent year. Largest UK universities At 151,840 students, the mainly remote, Open University had the largest number of students enrolled among UK-based higher education institutions in 2021/22. University College London had the second-highest number of students at 46,830, followed by the University of Manchester at 46,140. At the UK's two oldest and most prestigious universities, Oxford and Cambridge, there were 27,290, and 22,610 students respectively. The university with the most students in Scotland was the University of Glasgow at 42,980 students, with Wales' being Cardiff University at 33,985 students, and Northern Ireland's Ulster University having 34,550 students. Student Debt in the UK For students that graduated from English universities in 2023, the average student loan debt incurred over the course of their studies was over 44,900 pounds. Although the students graduated with less debt from universities in Wales, Northern Ireland, and especially Scotland, this too has been growing in recent years. The overall outstanding student loan debt in the UK reached over 225.95 billion pounds in 2022/23, with the vast majority from students who studied in England.

Last update: April 2013 Was added to StatsWales: April 2013 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Contact: post16ed.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk The information in this table is taken from Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK available on the HESA web-site at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi. A Guide to Performance Indicators in Higher Education is also available at this web-site. The indicators are designed to provide reliable information on the nature and performance of the higher education sector in the UK. The performance indicators broadly cover access to higher education, non-continuation rates and outcomes. Indicators relate to higher education institutions in the individual countries of the UK. The Performance Indicators Steering Group (PISG) has led the development of these indicators. Members are drawn from the four higher education funding bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DEL); the Department for Education and Skills and other government departments, the Higher Education Statistics Agency, and universities and colleges through their representative bodies (Universities UK and SCOP) Since 2002/03 HESA has published the Performance Indicators on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) who published them previously. A number of changes were introduced for the 2002/03 publication; further details can be found at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi . The access indicators relate to students starting in 2004/05; the indicators of non-continuation (students who do not continue after their first year) and of non-completion (students who drop out and do not resume later or transfer elsewhere) relate to the cohort starting in 2003/04. The disability indicator covers all students, not just entrants, on undergraduate programmes in 2004/05. WIDENING ACCESS: PERCENTAGE OF YOUNG FIRST DEGREE ENTRANTS FROM STATE SCHOOLS OR COLLEGES. School type is taken from previous institution attended. All schools or colleges that are not denoted ‘independent’ are assumed to be state schools. This means that students from sixth-form or further education colleges, for example, are included as being from state schools.

In the academic year of 2022/32, more than 154,000 Chinese students were studying in the United Kingdom. The number of Chinese students studying in British higher education institutions increased by more than 80 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.

This Statistical First Release (SFR) has been produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in collaboration with statisticians from the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Welsh Government (WG), the Scottish Government (SG) and the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DEL(NI)). It has been released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. It provides details of student enrolments and qualifications obtained by higher education (HE) students at HE providers in the United Kingdom (UK) for the academic year 2014/15. From 2012/13 the HESA constituency includes all UK publicly funded higher education institutions (HEIs) and a number of alternative providers (APs), collectively referred to as higher education providers (HEPs). This SFR, as in previous years, contains information regarding only the HEI element of this constituency and the University of Buckingham (also an AP), and therefore uses the term ‘higher education providers (HEPs)’.

Last update: April 2013 Was added to StatsWales: April 2013 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Contact: post16ed.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk The information in this table is taken from Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK available on the HESA web-site at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi. A Guide to Performance Indicators in Higher Education is also available at this web-site. The indicators are designed to provide reliable information on the nature and performance of the higher education sector in the UK. The performance indicators broadly cover access to higher education, non-continuation rates and outcomes. Indicators relate to higher education institutions in the individual countries of the UK. The Performance Indicators Steering Group (PISG) has led the development of these indicators. Members are drawn from the four higher education funding bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DEL); the Department for Education and Skills and other government departments, the Higher Education Statistics Agency, and universities and colleges through their representative bodies (Universities UK and SCOP) Since 2002/03 HESA has published the Performance Indicators on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) who published them previously. A number of changes were introduced for the 2002/03 publication; further details can be found at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi . The access indicators relate to students starting in 2004/05; the indicators of non-continuation (students who do not continue after their first year) and of non-completion (students who drop out and do not resume later or transfer elsewhere) relate to the cohort starting in 2003/04. The disability indicator covers all students, not just entrants, on undergraduate programmes in 2004/05. WIDENING ACCESS: PERCENTAGE OF YOUNG FIRST DEGREE ENTRANTS FROM STATE SCHOOLS OR COLLEGES. School type is taken from previous institution attended. All schools or colleges that are not denoted ‘independent’ are assumed to be state schools. This means that students from sixth-form or further education colleges, for example, are included as being from state schools.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Students and Qualifiers data tables: UK Students by Institution 2011/12. Tables are extracted from the HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions publication.

This Zenodo entry includes the full data files (.csv and .xlsx) for Figure 6: 'Percentages of women academic staff (headcount) in a subset of 165 United Kingdom universities by grouping, 2020', included in the manuscript "Changing the Academic Gender Narrative through Open Access", authored by members of the Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative (COKI). The analysis is of publicly available data sourced from the United Kingdom Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Last update: April 2013 Was added to StatsWales: April 2013 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Contact: post16ed.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk The information in this table is taken from Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK available on the HESA web-site at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi. A Guide to Performance Indicators in Higher Education is also available at this web-site. The indicators are designed to provide reliable information on the nature and performance of the higher education sector in the UK. The performance indicators broadly cover access to higher education, non-continuation rates and outcomes. Indicators relate to higher education institutions in the individual countries of the UK. The Performance Indicators Steering Group (PISG) has led the development of these indicators. Members are drawn from the four higher education funding bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DEL); the Department for Education and Skills and other government departments, the Higher Education Statistics Agency, and universities and colleges through their representative bodies (Universities UK and SCOP) Since 2002/03 HESA has published the Performance Indicators on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) who published them previously. A number of changes were introduced for the 2002/03 publication; further details can be found at www.hesa.ac.uk/pi . The access indicators relate to students starting in 2004/05; the indicators of non-continuation (students who do not continue after their first year) and of non-completion (students who drop out and do not resume later or transfer elsewhere) relate to the cohort starting in 2003/04. The disability indicator covers all students, not just entrants, on undergraduate programmes in 2004/05. WIDENING ACCESS: PERCENTAGE OF YOUNG FIRST DEGREE ENTRANTS FROM STATE SCHOOLS OR COLLEGES. School type is taken from previous institution attended. All schools or colleges that are not denoted ‘independent’ are assumed to be state schools. This means that students from sixth-form or further education colleges, for example, are included as being from state schools.

Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2018/19 This Statistical Bulletin provides details of student enrolments and qualifications obtained by higher education (HE) students at HE providers in the United Kingdom (UK) for the academic year 2018/19. This student bulletin has been produced by HESA in collaboration with statisticians from the Office for Students, the Department for Education, the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland. It has been released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

This data comes from the HEA's Student Record System (SRS). These are annual returns submitted to the HEA by each of the HEA-funded higher education institutions in Ireland. For further information, please visit www.hea.ie/statistics.

This release includes more detail on higher education students than was published in the student statistics bulletin in January 2021.

This Statistical First Release (SFR) has been produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), in collaboration with Department for Education and Skills (DfES) statisticians. It provides details of the first destinations of students obtaining higher education (HE) qualifications in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom (UK), during the academic year 2000/01. In addition, summary data for previous academic years from 1995/96 onwards are included for comparative purposes.

Estimates of suicides among higher education students by sex, age and ethnicity. Based on mortality records linked to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student records, Experimental Statistics.

The student sample for this research was selected from YouthSight’s Student Panel. Based on HESA statistics, the sample comprises national representation of gender, course year, and university type. The data is weighted on these factors. After fieldwork, the sample collected was checked for quality, and any ‘straight-liners’ were removed from the final total. The total student sample size is 2,153 respondents.Fieldwork was carried out between 29th July and 2nd August 2019.The survey instrument was developed by reviewing the limited number of studies and surveys on freedom of expression, consultations with colleagues and informed by our own experience. This resulted in the inclusion of seven comparative statements that are routinely used in surveys on freedom of expression in US universities, and a 15-item Moral Foundations Questionnaire, which enables the data to be interrogated by underlying moral profile. The definition of freedom of expression uses the framing adopted by King’s College London, which was developed through extensive consultation with the Students’ Union.