Introduction - Resources 2007/08

This publication is one of four reference volumes published annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA is a company limited by guarantee, and is owned by the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector through the representative bodies Universities UK and GuildHE. HESA collects data from publicly-funded higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK on behalf of funding bodies and government departments, in a framework underpinned by legislation.

This volume brings together information about the finances and the staff of HEIs during the academic year 2007/08 that is, the period 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008. It covers data supplied by 166 HEIs (13¹ in England, 12² in Wales, 19 in Scotland, 4 in Northern Ireland); one of the English HEIs, The University of Buckingham, is a non-publicly-funded institution voluntarily providing data to HESA. The data collection procedure is uniform across all institutions, regardless of size, nature and location. Tabulations are included that record and analyse income and expenditure, and the characteristics of staff, at the sector level in the printed volume, and on the CD also at the institutional level.

For a limited period after the completion of normal data collection, an institution may, when required or approved to do so by the relevant funding body, submit data to the ‘Fixed Database’ through the HESA data collection system, in order to correct material errors in the data originally submitted and included in the ‘Collection Database’. Data from the ‘Fixed Database’ for the 2007/08 finance and staff data collections on which this volume is based will be available from September 2009. Although some corrections are applied to the funding models used by the funding bodies prior to general availability of the ‘Fixed Database’, this volume is based entirely on the ‘Collection Database’.

The other reference volumes published by HESA are as follows.

Students in Higher Education Institutions. This volume draws on HESA’s collection of data about students in HEIs. It includes information at the institutional level about entry qualifications, programmes taken and outcomes, together with background variables such as age, gender, ethnicity and disability. Data on HE provision in further education colleges (FECs) is not included in this volume except for students funded indirectly through HEIs, in which case it is reported by the HEI through which funding passes.

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education. This volume draws on the Destinations of Leavers from HE (DLHE) survey and provides information about patterns of employment and further study or training at a point about six months after completion. DLHE covers leavers from part-time as well as full-time programmes.

Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom. This is the only HESA reference volume that currently falls within the National Statistics framework, and it accordingly carries the National Statistics logo as well as that of HESA. It provides an overview of higher education in the UK from a statistical perspective, including statistics about applications, participation, institutional finance, staffing, student awards and loans. To achieve this broad coverage, this volume draws on data collected by other bodies as well as HESA, and in particular includes some information about directly funded HE provision in FECs.

HESA also publishes annually two Statistical First Releases within the National Statistics framework. Detailed data for institutional planning purposes is published on CD (HE Planning Plus and HE Finance Plus). Research Data Packs dealing with specific issues are produced on an occasional basis on CD. The HESA Information Provision Service exists to meet more specialist needs of data users on a bespoke basis. The Higher Education Information Database for Institutions (heidi) commenced operation in April 2007, and offers a subscription service to institutions and approved HE bodies to allow the interrogation of HESA and other data through the production and export of tabular reports, and their display as charts.

Data protection

In order to comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to minimise the risk of disclosure of personal information about any individual. The tabulations in this volume are derived from the HESA non-statutory populations³ and may differ slightly from those published by related statutory bodies or in National Statistics publications. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest multiple of 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:

1. 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
2. All other numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

So for example 3 is represented as 5, 22 is represented as 20, 3286 is represented as 3285 while 0, 20, 55, 3510 remain unchanged.

This rounding strategy is also applied to total numbers; the consequence of this is that the sum of numbers in each row or column rarely matches the total shown precisely. Note that subject level data calculated by apportionment is also rounded in accordance with this strategy.

Average values, proportions and FTE values prepared by HESA are not usually affected by the above strategy, and are calculated on precise raw numbers.

Percentages calculated on populations which contain 52 or fewer individuals are suppressed and represented as ‘..’ as are averages based on populations of 7 or fewer.

Data on financial affairs of higher education institutions does not fall within the definition of 'personal data' under the Data Protection Act 1998, and is therefore exempt from the above provisions.

Format of publications

Commencing with the 2002/03 cycle of publications, HESA reference volumes now comprise a relatively slim printed volume containing only a limited range of tables, together with a CD, which contains all the remaining data familiar to users from earlier years, supplemented with additional and more detailed tables. The tables on the CD are in Microsoft® Excel 2003 format. This has the further benefit of allowing users to select data from the tables and manipulate how it is displayed. However, arithmetical manipulations should be carried out with caution because of the effect of the rounding strategy described above.

Finance data

This commentary draws attention to some of the headline figures and key points that emerge from the main tables. The information is displayed graphically where appropriate. It should be noted that where comparisons are made between the latest financial year and a previous year, the figures for the previous year are as re-stated in the most recent financial statements available; any exceptions are noted explicitly. They are not therefore necessarily reconcilable with figures for that year published in previous HESA volumes. However, it is understood that all such figures can be reconciled to the published accounts of the institutions.

Because of rounding, published totals in finance tables may differ from the sum of the published figures that contribute to them.

Summary of key points

Balance sheet

• Tangible assets have increased by £1,965 million (8.5%)
• There has been an increase of £534 million in short-term borrowing and an increase of £644 million in short-term investments.

Income and expenditure

• Income during the year amounted to £23.4 billion
• The surplus of income over expenditure was £491 million.

Sources of income

• Funding body grants increased by £503 million (6.3%)
• The amount of income received from tuition fees and education contracts increased by 15.7%. Income from full-time Home/EU domiciled undergraduate students provided 45.2% of the income in this category, and that from overseas (non-EU) students provided 30.1%
• Research Councils provided 36.5% of research grants and contracts, the largest share of the total.

Expenditure

• The £1,868 million (8.9%) rise in total expenditure was largely the result of broadly similar percentage rises in each of the two large components, staff costs (£979 million, 8.1%) and other operating expenses (£754 million, 10.0%).

Balance sheet

A comparison of the HE sector’s balance sheet at 31 July 2008 with that at 31 July 2007 (both as stated in the 2007/08 accounts in Table A below) shows a £534 million increase in short-term creditors while amounts due after more than one year have increased by £651 million. There was an increase of £88 million in debtors.

The value of tangible assets has increased by £1,965 million (8.5%), whereas endowment assets have fallen by £280 million (a loss of 7.4%).⁴

Table A - Balance sheet(#5)
	Balance (£ thousands) as at 31 July
	2008	2007	Change	% change
Fixed assets
Intangible assets	(14766)	(16656)	1890	(11.3%)
Tangible assets	24975426	23010266	1965160	8.5%
Investments	1093962	1223730	(129768)	(10.6%)
Investments in joint ventures: share of gross assets	141957	92499	49458	53.5%
Investments in joint ventures: share of gross liabilities	(102346)	(78670)	(23676)	30.1%
Total	26094233	24231169	1863064	7.7%
Endowment assets	3520478	3800830	(280352)	(7.4%)
Current assets
Stock	93568	109551	(15983)	(14.6%)
Debtors	2590697	2502896	87801	3.5%
Investments	3259581	2616079	643502	24.6%
Cash at bank & in hand	1826603	1407477	419126	29.8%
Total	7770449	6636003	1134446	17.1%
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	5718726	5184565	534161	10.3%
Net current assets/(liabilities)	2051723	1451438	600285	41.4%
Total assets less current liabilities	31666434	29483437	2182997	7.4%
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year	4723651	4072530	651121	16.0%
Provisions for liabilities & charges	326394	328081	(1687)	(0.5%)
Net assets excluding pension asset/(liability)	26616389	25082826	1533563	6.1%
Net pension asset/(liability)	(2891833)	(1681207)	(1210626)	72.0%
Net assets including pension asset/(liability)	23724556	23401619	322937	1.4%
Deferred capital grants	8673901	7881912	791989	10.0%
Endowments(#11)
Expendable	931970
Permanent	2588587
Total	3520557	3801053	(280496)	(7.4%)
Reserves	11530098	11718654	(188556)	(1.6%)
Total funds	23724556	23401619	322937	1.4%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

Income and expenditure

The income of the HE sector totalled £23.4 billion during the financial year to 31 July 2008; this compares with £21.3 billion for the previous year. The surplus of income over expenditure increased from £218 million in 2006/07 to £491 million in 2007/08.

Table B - Income and expenditure, financial years 2007/08 and 2006/07(#5)
			(£ thousands)
	2007/08	2006/07	% change
Total income	23439626	21255048	10.3%
Net income*	23376336	21234216	10.1%
Expenditure	22884979	21016635	8.9%
Surplus/(deficit) for the year**	491357	217581	125.8%
Surplus/(deficit) as percentage of net income	2.1%	1.0%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables
* Net income excludes income from joint ventures
** Surplus/(deficit) is calculated as net income minus expenditure

To provide the context for these figures, Chart 1 shows the HE sector’s surplus/deficit (re-based and re-calculated as appropriate) for each of the last 10 years. These are cash figures to which no deflator has been applied. Data were returned to HESA for financial year 1993/94 onwards; figures for these financial years are set out in earlier editions of this volume.

The number of institutions reporting a surplus or breakeven was 137 out of 166 in 2007/08, compared with 117 out of 166 in 2006/07. Deficits in both financial years were reported by 21 institutions.

The final table in this section aggregates figures for institutions funded by each of the four UK countries’ funding councils. It should be noted that in this and other tables, The Open University is counted as an institution based in England, although its funding now includes contributions from other administrations. The tables include finance data for The University of Buckingham, which is a non-publicly-funded institution in England and operates on a different financial year from the 1 August to 31 July financial year standard for the rest of the sector.

Table C - Income and expenditure by UK country(#5)
											(£ thousands)
	Financial Year 2007/08						Financial Year 2006/07
Location of Institution	Total income	Net income*	Expenditure	Surplus/(deficit) for the year**	% of net income		Total income	Net income*	Expenditure	Surplus/ (deficit) for the year**	% of net income
England	19400191	19338749	18944327	394422	2.0%		17555107	17538391	17395507	142884	0.8%
Wales	1091778	1090160	1060829	29331	2.7%		1003100	999195	976100	23095	2.3%
Scotland	2481940	2481720	2437659	44061	1.8%		2261570	2261369	2226146	35223	1.6%
Northern Ireland	465717	465707	442164	23543	5.1%		435271	435261	418882	16379	3.8%
Total	23439626	23376336	22884979	491357	2.1%		21255048	21234216	21016635	217581	1.0%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables
* Net income excludes income from joint ventures
** Surplus/(deficit) is calculated as net income minus expenditure

Income

The table and chart below summarise institutions’ sources of income in terms of proportions contributed by and the growth or otherwise of each source over time.

Table D - Sources of income(#5)
			(£ thousands)
	2007/08	2006/07	% change
Funding body grants	8507989	8005096	6.3%
Tuition fees & education contracts	6253998	5404725	15.7%
Research grants & contracts	3721881	3378011	10.2%
Other income	4447967	4059699	9.6%
Endowment & investment income	507791	407517	24.6%
Total income*	23439626	21255048	10.3%
Share of the above income from joint ventures **	(63290)	(20832)	203.8%
Net income (total income less income from joint ventures)	23376336	21234216	10.1%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables
* This is the sum of the five preceding components and is comparable with total income as reported in previous years.
** Income from joint ventures can arise as a sub-component within more than one of the components to total income.

Funding body grants represent a 36.3% proportion of total income. Tuition fees & education contracts represent a 26.7% proportion of total income. Compared to 2006/07, the first of these proportions has fallen by 1.4% and the second has risen by 1.3%. The breakdown in Table D also shows the component of income arising from joint ventures, and the net income after removing this component.

Funding body grants

Institutional funds for academic and other purposes are allocated primarily by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and by the Department for Employment and Learning for Northern Ireland (DEL(NI)) acting as a funding agency for the four Northern Ireland higher education institutions. Some funds are also provided in England by the Department of Health (DH) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). In relation to some categories of FE teaching funding comes from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in England and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).

Table E - Breakdown of funding body grants 2007/08
		(£ thousands)
		% of total
HE Provision(#6)
Recurrent (teaching)	5604682	65.9%
Recurrent (research)	1762155	20.7%
Recurrent - other (inc. special funding)	679417	8.0%
Release of deferred capital grants - buildings	198246	2.3%
Release of deferred capital grants - equipment	152773	1.8%
FE provision(#7)	110716	1.3%
Total funding body grants	8507989	100.0%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

Tuition fees and education contracts

The total income for tuition fees and education contracts increased by 15.7% this year to £6.25 billion from £5.40 billion in 2006/07. New fee arrangements, which came into effect in 2006/07, contributed substantially to increases in this component of income in 2006/07 and 2007/08, and will do so again in 2008/09. The breakdown in Table F differs from that in years prior to 2006/07 because the previous breakdown is no longer compatible with the different fee systems in each of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Income from full-time Home/EU domiciled undergraduate students provided 45.2% of the income in this category, and that from overseas (non-EU) students provided 30.1%.

Table F - Income from tuition fees and education contracts 2007/08
		(£ thousands)
		% of total
HE course fees
Home & EU domicile students
Full-time undergraduate	2829052	45.2%
Full-time postgraduate	528128	8.4%
Part-time undergraduate	258351	4.1%
Part-time postgraduate	274640	4.4%
Non-EU domicile students	1880101	30.1%
Sub-total HE course fees	5770272	92.3%
Non-credit-bearing course fees	334314	5.3%
FE course fees	38008	0.6%
Research training support grants	111404	1.8%
Total tuition fees & education contracts	6253998	100.0%

Research grants and contracts

Research grants and contracts increased by 10.2% this year to £3.72 billion from £3.38 billion in 2006/07. The Research Councils⁵ continue to be the largest providers by representing a 36.5% proportion of total research grants and contracts income.

Table G - Income from research grants and contracts 2007/08
		(£ thousands)
		% of total
DIUS research councils	1358179	36.5%
UK based charities (open competitive process)	707604	19.0%
UK based charities (other)	118180	3.2%
UK central government bodies/local authorities, health & hospital authorities	639304	17.2%
UK industry, commerce & public corporations	296067	8.0%
EU government bodies	279261	7.5%
EU based charities (open competitive process)	5589	0.2%
EU industry, commerce & public corporations	28391	0.8%
EU other	17821	0.5%
Non-EU-based charities (open competitive process)	58971	1.6%
Non-EU industry, commerce & public corporations	83300	2.2%
Non-EU other	75024	2.0%
Other sources	54190	1.5%
Total research grants & contracts	3721881	100.0%

Other income

Income in this category increased by 9.6% this year to £4.45 billion from £4.06 billion in 2006/07.

Table H - Other income 2007/08
		(£ thousands)
		% of total
Other services rendered
UK central government bodies, local authorities, health & hospital authorities, EU government bodies	491593	11.1%
Other	979263	22.0%
Sub-total other services rendered	1470856	33.1%
Residences & catering operations (including conferences)	1316079	29.6%
Grants from local authorities	8754	0.2%
Income from health & hospital authorities (excluding teaching contracts for student provision)	337991	7.6%
Released from deferred capital grants	107111	2.4%
Income from intellectual property rights	36908	0.8%
Other operating income	1170268	26.3%
Total other income	4447967	100.0%

Expenditure

The 8.9% (£1,868 million) rise in expenditure to £22.9 billion as shown in Table I did not vary greatly as a percentage between the two largest components, of staff costs and other operating expenses. In 2007/08 there was a slightly larger percentage increase in depreciation, and the smallest percentage increase was in the smallest component, interest and other finance costs.

Table I - Expenditure, financial years ending 2007/08 and 2006/07(#5)
			(£ thousands)
	2007/08	2006/07	% change
Staff costs	13135202	12156285	8.1%
Other operating expenses	8276341	7522148	10.0%
Depreciation	1187706	1070800	10.9%
Interest and other finance costs	285730	267402	6.9%
Total	22884979	21016635	8.9%
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

The percentage distribution of expenditure by activity within the total as shown in Table J has changed little from the previous year. Academic departments represent a 40.6% proportion of total expenditure and residences and catering operations represent a proportion of just 5.2%.

Table J - Distribution of expenditure by activity 2007/08
		(£ thousands)
		% of total
Academic departments	9283577	40.6%
Academic services	1752548	7.7%
Administration & central services	3251776	14.2%
Premises	2622216	11.5%
Residences & catering operations (including conferences)	1198238	5.2%
Research grants & contracts	3103588	13.6%
Other expenditure	1673036	7.3%
Total expenditure	22884979	100.0%

The clinical medicine cost centre (£941 million, 10.1%) and business & management studies cost centre (£925 million, 10.0%) continue to have the largest shares of total expenditure on academic departments in 2007/08. Other shares of at least 5% are those of social studies (£729 million, 7.9%), design & creative arts (£609 million, 6.6%), nursing & paramedical studies (£579 million, 6.2%), education (£574 million, 6.2%), humanities & language-based studies⁶ (£538 million, 5.8%) and biosciences (£525 million, 5.7%). These numbers are derived from the Total UK row of Table 2d.

Staff data

The HESA Staff Record covers all academic and non-academic staff who have a contract of employment with a higher education institution (HEI) in the UK, or for whom the HEI is liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions. Other staff, such as those employed under consultancy contracts, or on the basis of payment of fees for services but without a contract of employment, are not included in the record.

Within this record, staff designated as ‘academic’ include academic professionals who are responsible for preparing, directing and undertaking academic teaching and research within HE institutions and also medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians and other health care professionals who undertake lecturing or research activities. By custom and practice, a small number of other staff who do not have direct responsibility for the delivery of either teaching or research, including some institutional officers, are also designated as ‘academic’. All other staff in HEIs are designated as ‘non-academic’, and are grouped in twelve categories. In some tabulations these are combined into three broad-brush groups.

The amount of information collected on individual members of staff depends on the staff category into which they fall. Academic staff are recruited within a national, or indeed international, market, but one that is specialised by subject area. It is of value to be able to identify patterns of career progression as staff move from institution to institution, and to compare staffing resources with teaching and research commitments and funding streams. For such staff, the full record is collected. By contrast, for clerical, secretarial and manual staff, recruitment is from the labour market local to each institution. Although the individual institution may need to monitor its staffing position in considerable detail, the national data requirement is very limited, and is focused mainly on equal opportunities monitoring. For staff in these categories, the data collection is limited to a subset of the fields in the full record.

A key feature of the HESA Staff Record is the format of collection. Data can be analysed in terms of both people and employment contracts. The record consists of two tables. The person table contains one record for each person employed by an institution during the reporting period and contains attributes of the individual such as birth date, gender and ethnicity. Each person’s employment with an institution will be governed by one or more legally-binding contracts and each contract that exists is recorded on the contract table. If a person has a single contract with the institution there will be one record on the person table and one record on the contract table. If a person has three contracts with an institution there will be one record on the person table and three records on the contract table.

Prior to 2003/04, the coverage and structure of HESA data collections on staff were very different, and caution is needed if it is desired to make meaningful comparisons between data from those collections, and from collections for 2003/04 onwards. Reference should be made to the 2003/04 or 2004/05 volumes for more details. From 2003/04 onwards, the only fundamental changes have been the inclusion of atypical staff, starting in 2004/05, and the revision of the cost centres, also introduced for 2004/05. Atypical staff are, broadly speaking, staff on contracts that qualify them for inclusion in the HESA Staff Record, but are not on a full-time or proportionate part-time basis. Such staff may be found throughout the sector, but form an important component of the total staffing in subject areas such as performing arts and fine art. There are some fields in the record where the exact definition of what is to be collected is still under discussion, and data from these fields is accordingly not yet available.

Analysis by staff grade is meaningful only where institutions have reported their staff within nationally recognised grade structures, or within internal grade structures that facilitate discrimination on a similar basis. Several institutions, including some large post-1992 universities, report their staff on a single grade structure lacking a separate category for the ‘Professor’ grade. Where this happens, Professors cannot be distinguished from staff on the Senior Lecturer (pre-1992) or Principal Lecturer (post-1992) grade, leading to Professors being zero-counted for those institutions and under-counted for the sector as a whole. This under-counting limits the scope of comparative analyses of the proportion of Professors within particular subject areas, by cost centres, by gender, and so on.

Summary of key points

In 2007/08 there were in total 248,025 (2006/07: 242,620; 2005/06: 237,920) full-time staff in the HE sector, of whom 46.0% (45.9%; 45.6%) were female, and 124,430 (121,540; 117,495) part-time staff, of whom 67.6% (67.5%; 67.8%) were female. Also, there were 192,230 (180,710; 165,560) atypical staff, of whom 51.3% (50.9%; 50.7%) were female. The increase in the number of atypical staff may be in part a reporting effect as institutions become progressively more familiar with this recently introduced reporting requirement.

Of all academic staff other than atypicals, 42.6% (42.3%; 41.9%) were female; for full time academic staff the proportion was 37.1% (36.8%; 36.6%) and for part-time academic staff, 53.7% (53.3%; 53.1%). The proportion of atypical academic staff who were female was 46.7% (46.5%; 46.7%).

The total (full-person-equivalent) number of academic staff other than atypicals was 174,945 (169,995; 164,875), of whom 116,495 (113,685; 111,410) were full-time, constituting 47.0% (46.9%; 46.8%) of all full-time staff, and 58,450 (56,310; 53,465) were part-time, constituting 47.0% (46.3%; 45.5%) of all part-time staff. There were 84,560 (85,000; 80,930) atypical academic staff, constituting 44.0% (47.0%; 48.9%) of all atypical staff. The number of full-time academic staff increased by 2.0% between 2005/06 and 2006/07, and by a further 2.5% between 2006/07 and 2007/08.

Of all full-time academic posts, 72.0% (71.6%; 71.8%) were wholly financed by the institutions themselves.

Teaching as a primary employment function was included in 71.0% (70.8%; 70.9%) of full-time and 88.1% (87.8%; 87.2%) of part-time academic posts.

The average age of full-time academic staff was 43.0 (42.9; 42.8), and 41.1% (41.1%; 40.7%) were aged over 45.

Ethnicity was reported for 90.8% (90.7%; 89.7%) of all full- and part-time staff. Of those of known ethnicity, 10.3% (9.9%; 9.6%) were drawn from ethnic minority groups. For academic staff the percentages were 89.7% (89.7%; 88.5%) and 11.4% (11.0%; 10.7%). Both the overall proportion of ethnic minority staff, and the pattern on which different ethnic minority groups were represented, varied considerably by staff group. Ethnicity was reported for 57.2% (51.8%; 47.7%) of atypical staff, and, of those of known ethnicity, 17.0% (16.0%; 15.7%) were from ethnic minority groups.

Disability status was reported for 92.6% (92.4%; 91.9%) of all full- and part-time staff, and of those of known disability status, 2.7% (2.6%; 2.4%) had a disability. For full- and part-time academic staff, the percentages were 92.4% (92.4%; 91.6%) and 2.3% (2.2%; 2.1%). For atypical staff, the percentages were 72.8% (75.7%; 73.7%) and 1.4% (1.3%; 1.2%).

Among full-time academic staff, the proportion of professors who were female was 18.6% (17.4%; 16.5%); of senior lecturers & researchers, 35.3% (34.0%; 30.8%); of lecturers, 43.0% (42.8%; 42.6%) and of researchers, 41.7% (41.6%; 42.1%).

Of all full-time academic staff, 26.2% (26.3%; 26.1%) were employed in medicine, dentistry, or health.

Of all research-only staff, 75.5% (77.8%; 84.7%) were employed on fixed-term contracts.

General

Table K shows the overall pattern of staffing in UK HEIs, including atypical staff.

Table K - All staff in all UK institutions by activity, mode of employment and gender(#3) 2007/08
	Full-time				Part-time				Atypical
	Female	Male	Total		Female	Male	Total		Female	Male	Total
All activities	114070	133950	248025		84115	40315	124430		98615	92985	192230
Managers	6370	6975	13350		1220	335	1555		285	460	740
Academic professionals	43200	73295	116495		31385	27060	58450		39485	44865	84560
Non-academic professionals	10695	9970	20665		4020	1150	5165		5670	6260	11940
Laboratory, engineering, building, IT & medical technicians (including nurses)	6510	16300	22805		2960	1355	4315		2110	3105	5215
Student welfare workers, careers advisors, vocational training instructors, personnel & planning officers	4230	1910	6140		2645	580	3225		4650	2810	7460
Artistic, media, public relations, marketing & sports occupations	2350	1945	4295		1060	450	1505		2835	2215	5060
Library assistants, clerks & general administrative assistants	25065	7450	32510		16575	3500	20075		27140	19780	47290
Secretaries, typists, receptionists & telephonists	10435	845	11285		6445	460	6905		3210	2325	5540
Chefs, gardeners, electrical & construction trades, mechanical fitters & printers	590	4115	4705		270	160	430		295	355	650
Caretakers, residential wardens, sports & leisure attendants, nursery nurses & care occupations	1300	1680	2975		1390	760	2145		1640	1325	2965
Retail & customer service occupations	375	200	575		500	150	650		1250	760	2010
Drivers, maintenance supervisors & plant operatives	145	1075	1225		120	105	225		110	205	315
Cleaners, catering assistants, security officers, porters & maintenance workers	2805	8190	10995		15530	4260	19785		9930	8525	18490
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

In 2007/08 (that is, on 1 December 2007) there were in total 248,025 full-time staff, of whom 46.0% were female, 124,430 part-time staff, of whom 67.6% were female, and 192,230 atypical staff, of whom 51.3% were female. Of the full-time staff, 47.0% were academic (group 2 in detailed tabulations), 27.1% were managerial, professional and technical (groups 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), 17.7% were secretarial and clerical (groups 7, 8), and 8.3% were manual (groups 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). The corresponding figures for part-time staff were 47.0%, 12.7%, 21.7% and 18.7%, and for atypical staff, 44.0%, 15.8%, 27.5% and 12.7%. The numbers in Table K are full-person equivalents (headcounts, but apportioned across contracts where there are multiple contracts), not full-time equivalents (FTE; weighted by proportion relative to full-time), and for most purposes it is not useful to compare absolute numbers across the three different modes of employment because of the very different FTE weights involved. An extreme example is given by an atypical member of academic staff giving just a single class in the course of the year, who might have an FTE weight as low as 0.001. Even when comparing percentages of totals, it should be borne in mind that among part-time staff, and to an even greater extent among atypical staff, the FTE weighting of individuals varies greatly and may be correlated with the group into which they fall.

42.6% of all academic staff other than atypicals were female. Women comprised 37.1% of those working full-time and 53.7% of those working part-time. Of atypical academic staff, 46.7% were female.

Table L provides a breakdown of academic staffing in HE excluding atypicals. The reason for this exclusion is that the factors by which numbers are broken down in the rows of this table are not recorded for atypicals, with the exception of gender where the information is available in Table K. The coverage of Table L corresponds fairly closely to that of the table labelled as Table K in Resources volumes up to 2002/03. The non-clinical/clinical split can no longer be made, but from 2003/04 onwards it has become possible to identify staff on fixed-term contracts.

Table L - Summary of academic staff (excluding atypical) in all UK institutions 2007/08
	Full-time	Part-time	Total
Mode of employment	116495	58450	174945
Gender(#3)
Female	43200	31385	74590
Male	73295	27060	100355
Source of salary
Wholly institutionally financed	83835	51515	135350
Other sources of finance	32660	6935	39595
Academic employment function
Teaching only	6795	36160	42950
Teaching & research	75860	15355	91215
Research only	32665	6625	39290
Neither teaching nor research	1175	310	1485
Grade
Professors	16180	2110	18290
Senior lecturers & researchers	31505	5450	36960
Lecturers	29180	22710	51890
Researchers	31875	6100	37975
Other grades	7750	22075	29830
Terms of employment
Open-ended/permanent	84895	27695	112590
Fixed-term contract	31600	30755	62355
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

In 2007/08, the total number of academic staff other than atypicals employed by UK HEIs was 174,945, of whom 116,495, or 66.6% were in full-time employment. Because of the change from a session population to a 1 December population, these numbers cannot be compared with those published up to 2002/03, either in absolute or proportionate terms.

72.0% of full-time academic posts were wholly financed by the institutions themselves, this proportion rising to 88.1% for part-time posts.

71.0% of full-time academic posts and 88.1% of part-time academic posts included teaching as a primary employment function.

Inflow/outflow of academic staff

Tables 14a and 14b give details of the inflow and outflow of academic staff during the year. For a variety of reasons, it would be extremely difficult to draw out from those tables any easily understood human capital balance sheet for academic staff. Tables Mi and Mii achieve this by presenting numbers on a different basis, for headcount (used only in Tables Mi and Mii) rather than full-person-equivalent (used in all other contexts) academic staff only. This results in numbers that are slightly different from those in Table L.

Table Mi - Full-time academic staff inflows and outflows 2006/07 to 2007/08 Headcount
	Total
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2006	113895
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2006 who are part-time academic at 1 December 2007	3105
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2006 who are neither full-time nor part-time academic at 1 December 2007	15240
of which..
Other UK HEI	2385
Not other UK HEI (outflow)	12855
UK	2325
Non-UK	1235
Not in regular employment	1120
Retirement	960
Death	90
Other/unknown	7120
Full-time academic staff at 1 December in both years	95550
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2007 who were neither full-time nor part-time academic at 1 December 2006	18785
of which..
Other UK HEI	4870
Not other UK HEI (inflow)	13915
UK	6520
Non-UK	4235
Not in regular employment	305
Unknown	2855
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2007 who were part-time academic at 1 December 2006	2360
Full-time academic staff at 1 December 2007	116695
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.

Table Mi involves linkage between the staff records for 2006/07 and 2007/08. Starting from the number of full-time academic staff as at 1 December 2006, the number who can also be identified as full-time at the same institution on 1 December 2007 is determined, as is the number who have moved from full-time to part-time mode at the same institution. The balance is the number that have left their previous institution (or are still there but are no longer full- or part-time academic staff) during the year. Similarly, the number of full-time academic staff as at 1 December 2007 is determined, as is the number who have moved from part-time-to full-time mode at the same institution. From this, the number that have joined their current institution from outside during the year (or become full-time academic staff from some status other than part-time academic staff) is derived. This provides the overall structure of the balance sheet. The (headcount) number of full-time academic staff has increased from 113,895 to 116,695 during the year, an increase of 2.5%. Of those in post as at 1 December 2007, 95,550, or 81.9%, were full-time (and a further 2,360, or 2.0%, were part-time) academic staff at the same institution a year previously.

Table Mii - Part-time academic staff inflows and outflows 2006/07 to 2007/08 Headcount
	Total
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2006	57125
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2006 who are full-time academic at 1 December 2007	2360
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2006 who are neither full-time nor part-time academic at 1 December 2007	14840
of which..
Other UK HEI	625
Not other UK HEI (outflow)	14220
UK	1760
Non-UK	210
Not in regular employment	870
Retirement	505
Death	50
Other/unknown	10820
Part-time academic staff at 1 December in both years	39920
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2007 who were neither full-time nor part-time academic at 1 December 2006	16335
of which..
Other UK HEI	2260
Not other UK HEI (inflow)	14075
UK	6685
Non-UK	1045
Not in regular employment	500
Unknown	5850
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2007 who were full-time academic at 1 December 2006	3105
Part-time academic staff at 1 December 2007	59360
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.

Table Mii provides similar information for part-time academic staff, and is constructed on the same basis with, of course, part-time and full-time modes interchanged as between the two tables. The (headcount) number of part-time academic staff has increased from 57,125 to 59,360 during the year, an increase of 3.9%. Of those in post as at 1 December 2007, 39,920, or 67.3%, were part-time (and a further 3,105, or 5.2%, were full-time) academic staff at the same institution a year previously. These figures show much lower retention rates for part-time staff than for full-time staff, and, within institutions, more movement from full-time to part-time than in the reverse direction.

Although these tables also give breakdowns of starters and leavers, regrettably the very large proportion of unknowns, particularly in the case of leavers, means that no conclusions can safely be drawn from the breakdowns. For example, leavers going to other institutions in the HE sector and starters coming from other institutions in the HE sector might be expected to balance across the sector, although moves between full-time and part-time status will make this balance only approximate within each mode, but under-reporting has resulted in widely different numbers. For the same reason, it is unsafe to draw any conclusions about the ‘brain drain/gain’.

Atypical academic staff are, by definition, employed on a basis that makes it inappropriate to construct such a table for them.

Age of academic staff

Table N presents the age distribution of full-time academic staff by grade.

Table N - Full-time academic staff by grade and age 2007/08
	Professors	Senior lecturers & researchers	Lecturers	Researchers	Other grades	Total
25 & under	0	10	160	1685	245	2105
26-30	15	495	2705	10260	715	14195
31-35	140	2135	5865	8625	820	17585
36-40	875	4990	5840	4800	825	17325
41-45	2385	6410	4705	2830	1080	17410
46-50	3130	5900	3810	1650	1255	15745
51-55	3490	5505	3110	1095	1275	14475
56-60	3900	4425	2235	640	1135	12335
61-65	2060	1570	710	240	360	4940
66 & over	185	65	35	40	40	365
Unknown	0	0	5	0	0	10
Total	16180	31505	29180	31875	7750	116495
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.

Of those staff whose age was known, 41.1% were aged over 45 and 12.4% were aged between 51 and 55. 36.2% of senior lecturers & researchers were aged between 46 and 55, and 45.6% of professors were aged between 51 and 60. 79.6% of researchers were aged 40 years or under.

The average age of full-time academic staff was 43.0 and of part-time staff, 45.1 [from Table 23a]. The average age of atypical academic staff was 40.4 [from Table 23b].

Ethnicity of all staff

In Table P ethnicity is shown broken down by the four broad-brush staff groups and by mode of employment. The presentation of ethnicity data in this introductory section is not now limited to those of UK nationality, and this should be borne in mind if comparisons are made with figures published for years prior to 2003/04.

Table P - All staff by ethnicity and mode of employment 2007/08
	Total	Staff of known ethnicity	Staff of known ethnicity as a percentage of total staff	Ethnic minority staff	Ethnic minority staff as a percentage of staff of known ethnicity
All staff (excluding atypical)	372455	338145	90.8%	34670	10.3%
Academic staff	174945	156895	89.7%	17815	11.4%
Full-time	116495	106995	91.8%	13255	12.4%
Part-time	58450	49900	85.4%	4560	9.1%
Non-academic staff total	197515	181250	91.8%	16855	9.3%
Full-time	131530	122345	93.0%	10250	8.4%
Part-time	65985	58905	89.3%	6605	11.2%
Managerial, professional & technical staff	83025	77155	92.9%	6035	7.8%
Full-time	67255	62665	93.2%	4945	7.9%
Part-time	15770	14490	91.9%	1085	7.5%
Clerical staff	70775	65765	92.9%	6400	9.7%
Full-time	43795	41380	94.5%	3905	9.4%
Part-time	26980	24380	90.4%	2495	10.2%
Manual staff	43715	38330	87.7%	4420	11.5%
Full-time	20480	18295	89.3%	1395	7.6%
Part-time	23235	20035	86.2%	3025	15.1%
Atypical staff	192230	109885	57.2%	18700	17.0%
Academic	84560	46600	55.1%	5815	12.5%
Non-academic	107670	63285	58.8%	12885	20.4%
Managerial, professional & technical staff	30415	18290	60.1%	2835	15.5%
Clerical staff	52825	30340	57.4%	6720	22.2%
Manual staff	24425	14655	60.0%	3330	22.7%
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5. Percentages are not subject to rounding.

Of all full- and part-time staff, 90.8% reported their ethnicity. The response rate did not vary greatly by staff group and mode of employment. Among staff of known ethnicity, the proportion from ethnic minority groups varied considerably, with greater representation among academic staff at 11.4% than among non-academic staff at 9.3%.

Ethnicity was reported for only 57.2% of atypical staff. This low proportion is probably a consequence of the newness of the reporting requirement, with institutional staff record systems not yet fully adapted to collect the necessary data at the time of appointment and retrospective collection from staff on such contracts being impracticable. It may be expected to increase substantially in future, and has already increased from 40.7% in 2004/05, that being the first year of availability of the data. Of those atypical staff of known ethnicity, 17.0% were from ethnic minority groups.

Charts 3i to 3iv show the percentages of those from ethnic minorities represented by each visible ethnic minority group, for each of these four groups of full- and part-time staff. Charts 3v and 3vi show the position for atypical staff, broken down between academic and non-academic staff. The pattern in each group is noticeably different.

Disability of all staff

Table Q presents information on disability in the same style as Table P; again, coverage now extends to all staff groups and is not limited to those of UK nationality.

Table Q - All staff by disability status and mode of employment 2007/08
	Total	Staff of known disability status	Staff of known disability status as a percentage of total staff	Staff declared disabled	Disabled staff as a percentage of staff with known disability status
All staff (excluding atypical)	372455	345020	92.6%	9350	2.7%
Academic staff	174945	161565	92.4%	3780	2.3%
Full-time	116495	108695	93.3%	2495	2.3%
Part-time	58450	52870	90.5%	1280	2.4%
Non-academic staff total	197515	183455	92.9%	5570	3.0%
Full-time	131530	122935	93.5%	3810	3.1%
Part-time	65985	60525	91.7%	1765	2.9%
Managerial, professional & technical staff	83025	77885	93.8%	2455	3.2%
Full-time	67255	63105	93.8%	1965	3.1%
Part-time	15770	14780	93.7%	490	3.3%
Clerical staff	70775	66220	93.6%	1940	2.9%
Full-time	43795	41085	93.8%	1210	2.9%
Part-time	26980	25135	93.2%	730	2.9%
Manual staff	43715	39355	90.0%	1175	3.0%
Full-time	20480	18745	91.5%	635	3.4%
Part-time	23235	20605	88.7%	545	2.6%
Atypical staff	192230	140015	72.8%	1895	1.4%
Academic	84560	62970	74.5%	800	1.3%
Non-academic	107670	77045	71.6%	1095	1.4%
Managerial, professional & technical staff	30415	24600	80.9%	360	1.5%
Clerical staff	52825	36250	68.6%	445	1.2%
Manual staff	24425	16195	66.3%	290	1.8%
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5. Percentages are not subject to rounding.

Disability status was reported for 92.6% of all full- and part-time staff. Of those of known disability status, 2.7% had a disability. For full- and part-time academic staff, the percentages were 92.4% and 2.3%. For atypical staff the percentages were 72.8% and 1.4%

Funding, grade, and gender of full-time academic staff

Table R - Full-time academic staff in all UK institutions by source of salary, grade and gender(#3) 2007/08
	Source of salary
	Wholly institutionally financed	All other sources of finance	Total
Professors	14695	1485	16180
Female	2710	295	3005
Male	11985	1195	13180
Senior lecturers & researchers	29040	2465	31505
Female	10130	990	11120
Male	18910	1475	20385
Lecturers	26540	2640	29180
Female	11400	1160	12560
Male	15140	1480	16620
Researchers	7125	24745	31875
Female	2935	10345	13280
Male	4190	14405	18590
Other grades	6430	1320	7750
Female	2605	630	3235
Male	3830	690	4520
Total	83835	32660	116495
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

Among full-time academic staff, 91.4% of professors, senior lecturers & researchers, and lecturers were wholly institutionally funded, with very little variation across these grades, whereas 22.4% of researchers were wholly institutionally funded. Within each grade there was very little variation by gender in the proportion of full-time academic staff who were wholly institutionally funded.

The proportion of full-time professors who were female was 18.6%; of senior lecturers & researchers, 35.3%; of lecturers, 43.0%; and of researchers, 41.7%.

Cost centre distribution of full-time academic staff

Table S - Full-time academic staff in all UK institutions by source of salary, gender(#3) and departmental cost centre 2007/08
	Wholly institutionally financed				All other sources of finance
	Female	Male	Total		Female	Male	Total
Cost centres	29785	54050	83835		13420	19240	32660
Medicine, dentistry & health	8705	8405	17110		7090	6360	13445
Agriculture, forestry & veterinary science	420	810	1230		245	255	500
Biological, mathematical & physical sciences	2515	9065	11580		3230	6285	9515
Engineering & technology	1750	9770	11520		940	4130	5075
Architecture & planning	470	1410	1885		90	170	260
Administrative, business & social studies	6725	12310	19030		900	1060	1960
Humanities & language based studies & archaeology	3735	5385	9120		470	550	1020
Design, creative & performing arts	1645	2835	4480		65	100	160
Education	3200	3125	6320		290	195	485
Academic services	240	240	480		55	70	125
Administration & central services	375	690	1065		45	65	110
Premises	0	0	0		0	0	0
Residences & catering	10	5	10		0	0	0
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

36.6% of female and 20.1% of male full-time academic staff worked in medicine, dentistry & health. The biological, mathematical & physical science departments accounted for 20.9% of male full-time academic staff.

44.0% of full-time academic staff in medicine, dentistry & health and 45.1% in biological, mathematical & physical sciences were financed other than wholly by the institutions themselves. Cost centre groups with the fewest partially or wholly externally funded full-time academic staff were in the areas of design, creative and performing arts (3.5%), education (7.1%), administrative, business and social studies (9.3%), and humanities and language based studies and archaeology (10.1%), together with administration and central services (9.3%). The Definitions at the end of this volume describe the current cost centre groups, some of which differ from those used prior to 2004/05.

Pattern of employment of academic staff

Table T - Academic staff (excluding atypical) in all UK institutions by academic employment function, gender(#3), mode and terms of employment 2007/08
	Full-time				Part-time
	Open-ended/ permanent	Fixed-term contract	Total		Open-ended/ permanent	Fixed-term contract	Total
Teaching only	5380	1410	6795		15460	20695	36160
Female	2695	720	3415		8095	10375	18475
Male	2685	695	3380		7365	10320	17685
Teaching & research	70665	5195	75860		10465	4890	15355
Female	23620	2100	25720		6165	2155	8320
Male	47045	3095	50140		4300	2735	7035
Research only	7980	24685	32665		1655	4970	6625
Female	3240	10385	13625		1190	3225	4415
Male	4735	14300	19035		460	1745	2210
Neither teaching nor research	870	310	1175		110	200	310
Female	300	135	440		75	100	175
Male	565	170	740		35	100	135
Total	84895	31600	116495		27695	30755	58450
In this table 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
# see relevant footnote in Notes to tables

At 75.6% for full-time staff and 75.0% for part-time staff, fixed-term contracts were the norm among research-only staff regardless of mode of employment, although these percentages continue to fall. Among staff who had teaching responsibilities, the figures were 8.0% and 49.7% respectively, so fixed-term contracts were far commoner for part-time than for full-time teaching staff. For female staff who had teaching responsibilities, the figures were 9.7% and 46.8% respectively, so the proportion of full-time female teaching staff on fixed-term contracts was somewhat higher than that of male staff, whereas there was little difference in relative terms in the proportions for part-time staff.

84.2% of teaching-only staff were part-time, compared with 16.9% for research-only staff and 16.8% for staff with both teaching and research duties.

---

¹ The number of English institutions in this volume is different from the number reported in some other HESA products because staff associated with University Campus Suffolk are not reported (this will change for 2008/09), and financial reporting for University Campus Suffolk takes place through its two parent institutions, The University of East Anglia and The University of Essex.

² The number of Welsh institutions in this volume is different from the number reported in some other HESA products because of the inclusion of finance and staff data from The University of Wales (central functions), reported under the name ‘The University of Wales Registry’ prior to 2004/05.

³ Non-statutory publications omit any contribution from individuals who have notified HESA of their wish to be excluded in circumstances such as the publication of the present volume where inclusion is not defined as a requirement by the bodies whose statutory powers underpin HESA data collection.

⁴ The negative figures within ‘Intangible assets’ are attributable to negative goodwill within institutional accounts. The figures for ‘Endowment assets’ and ‘Endowments’ should be identical, but differ slightly because of a reporting error by one institution. This also occurred in 2006/07 in respect of a different institution, but was not commented on in a footnote in the volume for that year.

⁵ Statutory control of the Research Councils formerly rested with the Office of Science and Innovation within the Department for Trade and Industry, but, following Machinery of Government changes in mid-2007, has now been inherited by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

⁶ Despite its name, this cost centre does not include modern languages, which is a separate cost centre.