Summary - UK Performance Indicators 2010/11

This section summarises the sector-wide information for each of the indicators, and provides a comparison with the sector values from previous years, where appropriate.

The summary includes some time series data and highlights any changes in the indicator over time, although changes within the underlying populations have not been taken into account. For example, the proportion of students attending a state school or college may have changed over time, even though the indicator showing the proportion of students from state schools or college has not changed. Therefore, time series data should be analysed with care.

Percentage from schools and colleges in the state sector

This indicator, shown in table series T1, is produced for young full-time undergraduate entrants. The term ‘State schools or colleges’ is for all schools and colleges that are not classed as independent, this includes further education colleges and publicly funded higher education institutions.

Table A [xls 32 KB] provides a time series from 1998/99 of the percentage of young full-time first degree entrants who attended a state school or college by country of HEI attended. Chart 1 illustrates this time series for the UK as a whole, sourced from table T1a of the Performance Indicators. These figures do not take into account any changes in population, or in the pattern of school attendance, over this time.

Nationally, 92.2% of 17 year-olds in full-time education attend schools or colleges in the state sector (Source: Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS)). 88.7% of young entrants to full-time first degree courses in 2010/11 had attended such schools (source: table T1a). Chart 2 illustrates the spread of values for this indicator across the sector.

 

Percentage from NS-SEC Classes 4, 5, 6 and 7

For the 2001 census, a new classification, National Statistics - Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC), was developed to replace Social Class. It took into account new work patterns in the UK and the changes in education levels required for and the status of, large numbers of occupations. This new classification was used for the social class indicator from 2002/03 onwards and is not comparable with data published prior to 2002/03.

This indicator is produced for young full-time undergraduate entrants to higher education. It uses categories 4 to 7 of the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) in the 'low SEC' group, with categories 1 to 3 as 'not low SEC'.

Figures based on the Labour Force Survey and quoted in Regional Trends 39 (Source: Office for National Statistics) show that 47% of the population of working age with known classification (excluding NS-SEC class 8, long-term unemployed or never worked) are classified in groups 4 to 7, where classification is based on current or most recent occupation. Nationally, 30.6% of young entrants to full-time first degree courses come from this section of the population (source: table T1a).

Table B [xls 34 KB] provides a time series from 2002/03 of the percentage of young full-time first degree entrants from NS-SEC classes 4-7 by country of HEI attended. Chart 3 illustrates this time series for the UK as a whole. The data has been sourced from table T1a of the Performance Indicators.

For reference, the social class IIIM,IV,V indicators have been included in table B and chart 3 for 1998/99 - 2001/02 but are not comparable with the NS-SEC indicators, details of the differences can be found within the changes between 2001/02 to 2002/03 document. Prior to 2002/03, the social class IIIM,IV,V indicators were published by HEFCE in table series T1.

For the 2008/09 academic year, UCAS changed the question that informs NS-SEC for the majority of applicants, see notes to tables #4 (2008/09) for details. Due to this change in the question, the 2008/09 data is not comparable with NS-SEC data published prior to and post 2008/09 and has therefore been excluded from the time series data given in table B and chart 3.

Chart 4 provides the spread of values for the NS-SEC indicator across the sector, sourced from table T1a.

 

Percentage from low participation neighbourhoods (based on the POLAR2 method)

The percentage of entrants from low participation neighbourhoods is provided separately for young and mature undergraduate entrants, both full-time and part-time. The method for defining low participation neighbourhoods changed in 2006/07 and indicators are now based on the POLAR2 method. The POLAR2 method is not comparable with the Super Profiles method which was used prior to 2006/07. More information on the POLAR2 low participation method can be found in the widening participation definitions, differences between the Super Profile and POLAR2 low participation method can be found in the changes to the PIs document.

The POLAR2 low participation measure used in tables T1, T2 and T3 is based on a UK wide classification of areas into participation bands. The relatively high (in UK terms) participation rate in Scotland coupled with the very high proportion of HE that occurs in FE colleges means that the figures for Scottish institutions could, when viewed in isolation, misrepresent their contribution to widening participation. Therefore, low participation data has not been produced for institutions in Scotland, see relevant footnote in notes to tables.

The indicators given in table T1a-T1c are for young full-time entrants, Table T2a and T2c for mature full-time entrants and table T2b for part-time entrants.

Full-time entrants

10.5% of young entrants to full-time first degree courses and 11.7% of mature entrants to full-time first degree courses (who also had no previous higher education qualification) came from low participation neighbourhoods (sourced from table T1a and table T2a respectively). Table C [xls 34 KB] and Table D [xls 34 KB] provide a time series from 2006/07 of the percentages of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from POLAR2 low participation neighbourhoods for young and mature students respectively. For comparison, table C includes some additional data for the 2005/06 academic year, produced using the POLAR2 method. Charts 5 and 6 illustrate this time series for the UK as a whole. For reference, the tables and charts include Super Profiles low participation data prior to 2006/07, but comparisons between these different types of indicators should not be made. Data has been sourced from tables T1a (young) and T2a (mature).

Charts 7 and 8 illustrate the spread of values for the POLAR2 low participation indicator across the sector, sourced from table T1a and table T2a respectively.

Part-time entrants

For part-time entrants, there is a difference between young and mature with regards to this indicator. 13.0% of young entrants and 8.0% of mature entrants to part-time undergraduate courses come from low participation neighbourhoods (sourced from table T2b).

Table E [xls 34 KB] and Table F [xls 34 KB] provide a time series from 2006/07 of the percentages of young and mature entrants to part-time undergraduates respectively. Charts 9 and 10 illustrate this time series across the sector. As with the full-time low participation indicators, Super Profile data has been shown prior to 2006/07 for reference purposes, but is not comparable with the POLAR2 data. Data has been sourced from table T2b.

Charts 11 and 12 illustrate the spread of values across the sector for the POLAR2 low participation indicator for young and mature part-time entrants respectively. Data has been sourced from table T2b of the Performance Indicators.

Percentage of students in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)

The DSA indicator given in table T7, is provided separately for full-time and part-time undergraduates. Because of the small numbers involved and unlike the other widening participation indicators, it is based on all undergraduates, not just entrants. The indicator used is the proportion of students who are in receipt of disabled students' allowance (DSA), as this is more robust than the proportions reporting that they are disabled. Due to the high numbers of part-time students studying via The Open University, they are shown separately in table H.

The proportion of students in receipt of DSA is relatively small. The percentage of such students on full-time undergraduate courses in 2010/11 was 5.3%, with institutional values ranging from 1.4% to 26.0%.

For part-time undergraduate students, 3.0% were in receipt of DSA.

Table G [xls 32 KB] and Table H [xls 33 KB] provide a time series from 2000/01 of the percentages of full-time first degree and part-time undergraduates, respectively, who were in receipt of DSA. Chart 13 illustrates the spread of values for this indicator across the sector for full-time first degree students. The data has been sourced from table T7 of the Performance Indicators.

Non-continuation rates of full-time entrants after first year at institution

Table series T3 provides an indicator showing the proportion of entrants who do not continue in higher education beyond their first year. Table T3a provides this indicator separately for young and mature full-time first degree entrants to higher education.

In general, a higher proportion of mature entrants than young entrants do not continue in higher education after their first year. For full-time first degree entrants in 2009/10, the UK non-continuation rate was 13.3% for mature entrants compared with 7.2% for young entrants (sourced from table T3a). The non-continuation rate for young entrants was 10% or less at approximately 75% of institutions. For mature entrants it was between 2% and 20% at the majority of institutions.

Table I [xls 32 KB] and Table J [xls 32 KB] provide a time series from 1997/98 of the non-continuation rates by country of HEI for young and mature full-time first degree entrants respectively. Charts 14 and 15 illustrate this time series across the sector. Data has been sourced from table T3a of the Performance Indicators.

Charts 16 and 17 illustrate the spread of values of the non-continuation indicator between institutions, again for young and mature full-time first degree entrants respectively and has been sourced from table T3a.

 

Table T3d was introduced in the 2002/03 publication and shows the proportion of full-time other undergraduate entrants who do not continue in higher education beyond their first year. These proportions are provided separately for young and mature full-time other undergraduate entrants to higher education.

In general, a lower proportion of mature than young full-time other undergraduate entrants do not continue in higher education after their first year. For entrants in 2009/10, the UK non-continuation rate was 14.6% for mature entrants compared with 18.6% for young entrants (sourced from table T3d).

Table K [xls 32 KB] and Table L [xls 32 KB] provide a time series from 2001/02 of non-continuation rates by country of HEI for young and mature full-time other undergraduate entrants respectively. Charts 18 and 19 illustrate this time series across the sector. Data has been sourced from table T3d of the Performance Indicators.

Charts 20 and 21 illustrate the spread of values of the non-continuation indicator between institutions for young and mature full-time other undergraduate entrants respectively and have been sourced from table T3d.

Non-continuation rates of part-time entrants after second year at institution

Table T3e was introduced in the 2008/09 publication and shows the proportion of part-time first degree entrants who do not continue in higher education beyond their second year. These proportions are provided separately for entrants to higher education who were aged 30 and under and those aged over 30.

Table M [xls 32 KB] provides a time series from 2006/07 of non-continuation rates by country of HEI for part-time first degree entrants with an age split. Charts 22 and 23 illustrate the spread of values between institutions of this indicator for those aged 30 and under and those aged over 30 respectively. Data has been sourced from table T3e of the Performance Indicators.

Return after a year out

Further information is provided in table T4a about full-time first degree entrants who started at university or college in 2008/09, but were not in higher education in 2009/10. Nationally, 12.1% of young full-time first degree students and 11.0% of mature full-time first degree students in this category returned to their original institution in 2010/11, with a further 14.1% of young full-time first degree students and 5.7% of mature full-time first degree students transferring to another institution (sourced from table T4a).

Similar figures are provided in table T4b for full-time other undergraduate entrants who started at university or college in 2008/09, but were not in higher education in 2009/10. Nationally, 6.8% of young full-time other undergraduate students and 13.0% of mature full-time other undergraduate students in this category returned to their original institution in 2010/11, with a further 7.2% of young full-time other undergraduate students and 4.6% of mature full-time other undergraduate students transferring to another institution (sourced from table T4b).

Projected outcomes

The projected outcomes in table T5 summarise the pattern of movements of students at institutions between 2009/10 and 2010/11. They give the outcomes that would be expected from starters at the institution in 2009/10 if these progression patterns were to remain unchanged over the next few years.

The sector averages for the UK and its constituent countries are obtained by taking a (weighted) average of all the relevant institutional values. They show that 78.4% of full-time first degree students starting at an institution in 2009/10 are expected to qualify from that institution with a degree and 13.1% are expected to get no qualification. A further 5.1% are expected to transfer to another institution (sourced from table T5). The projected percentage of students who leave before gaining any award, and who neither return to study nor transfer to another institution, is less than 25% for the majority of institutions. Table N [xls 33 KB] and Table O [xls 32 KB] provide a time series from 1997/98 of the projected percentages of full-time first degree starters expected to gain a degree or neither obtain an award nor transfer respectively by country of HEI. Chart 24 illustrates this time series for the UK as a whole. Data has been sourced from table T5 of the Performance Indicators.

Chart 25 illustrates the spread of values between institutions, for those projected to obtain no award nor transfer to another institution.

Module completion rates

Table T6 looks at module completion rates for part-time students. The provision of this information is dependent on how student data are returned to HESA. Full coverage of modular data is only provided to HESA by institutions in Wales, therefore this table only includes data on these institutions. The table shows what percentage of modules, undertaken by part-time students, are successfully completed and some statistics to put this percentage into context. For 2010/11, 87.6% of the relevant modules had results provided, and in 83.2% of cases the module was passed. On average each part-time student undertook 2.4 modules, and each module was worth an average 14.7% full-time equivalent.

Research and Employment indicators

Data published: 09.30 hours, Thursday 5 July 2012.

Research indicators

Research indicators, which are given in Table R1, are different in kind to other indicators, in that they do not wholly relate to the student population. They measure research output (as shown by the number of PhDs awarded and the amount of research grants or contracts for which expenditure has been incurred) against resource inputs (namely, academic staff costs and the funding councils’ allocations for research).

These indicators do not measure research quality as the Research Assessment Exercise does that.

Research indicators are all standardised to a value of 1 and take account of the differing ratios of output to input in different cost centres. A value of 1 for an indicator shows that the institution is producing the same as the rest of the sector, relative to its input. A value below 1 shows it is producing less than the sector, and a value greater than 1 shows that it is producing more than the sector, again relative to its input.

The indicators using academic staff costs as the input are less variable between the years than the indicators which use funding councils’ research allocation, in part because the amount of funding for some institutions is very small relative to that for the large research universities.

Employment indicator

The employment indicators are based on the responses to the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, which replaced the First Destinations survey.

In 2010/11, the response rate to the survey for those graduating from full-time courses with a first degree was 83.0%. The response rates for those graduating from part-time first degree, full-time other undergraduate and part-time other undergraduate courses were 76.7%, 78.6% and 74.7% respectively. Table P [xls 33 KB] shows a time series of response rates and the employment indicator for full-time first degree qualifiers and Table Q [xls 32 KB] shows response rates of qualifiers by level of qualification and mode of qualification for 2010/11.

Chart 26 provides a time series from 2002/03 of the percentage of full-time first degree leavers in employment and/or further study (the employment indicator).

Sourced from Table E1a of the Performance Indicators.

Table R [xls 32 KB] shows the employment outcomes of full-time first degree graduates by academic year, based on all respondents to the survey. In 2010/11, the proportion of graduates who were in employment (excluding those in employment and further study) six months after leaving was 61.6%, a further 7.9% were in employment and further study and 14.0% were in further study only. Table S [xls 32 KB] shows the employment outcomes by level of qualification and mode of qualification for 2010/11, based on all respondents to the survey.

The percentages given in Table R and Table S differ from the employment indicator shown in tables E1a - E1d which is based on all respondents to the survey who are classed as working or studying or as unemployed and seeking work, see employment indicator definitions for details. Chart 27 shows the spread of the employment indicator across institutions.

Sourced from Table E1a of the Performance Indicators.

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