A profile of the UK higher education sector 1998/99

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in conjunction with the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), today releases the publication Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1998/99. The volume provides a quantitative overview of the UK higher education (HE) sector in 1998/99, drawing together information from various sources concerning students of HE institutions, applicants, staffing, finance, student support and other aspects of HE provision.

Figures for 1998/99 show that in this academic year there was a total of 2,081,664 enrolments on courses leading to HE qualifications and credits, 235,907 of which were at further education (FE) institutions. There were just over a million full-time students studying first degrees in HE and FE institutions. A total of 446,942 students obtained HE qualifications in 1998/99. By the end of 1999, 66.0% of leavers within the first destinations survey reported employment as their main activity. The sector had a total income of £12.1 billion and an academic workforce of 131,136.

Other key points

• There were 752,699 students taking courses of professional and personal development (not leading to HE qualifications or credits) in UK HE institutions
• A total of 219,285 HE students were domiciled in the EU or other overseas countries, representing 11.9% of all HE students
• There were 442,931 UCAS applicants for 1999 entry, of which 75.5% (334,594) were accepted
• 29.7% of academic staff were involved solely in research activities
• Of the 355,012 first degree entrants in 1998/99, 31.8% were known to be aged 21 and over
• 54.0% of 20 year olds were enrolled in higher education in Korea compared with 9.0% in Iceland.

Notes for editors

1. The Volume Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1998/99 provides a statistical overview of Higher Education in the UK for 1998/99.
2. The Volume is available, price £32, from the Customer Services Team, HESA Services Ltd., 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone: 01242 255577. An electronic version on disk is available, price £35 + VAT. A list of other publications is also available from the Customer Services Team.
3. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
4. Press enquiries should be directed to the Data Provision Team at HESA, 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone 01242 211133. Other enquiries about HESA data should be addressed to the Data Provision Team at the same address.

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