Qualifications obtained by and examination results of higher education students at higher education institutions in the United Kingdom for the academic year 1998/99

Introduction

This Statistical First Release (SFR) has been produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in collaboration with Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) statisticians. It provides provisional details of qualifications obtained by, and examination results of, higher education (HE) students at HE institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom for the academic year 1998/99.

Key Points

• The number of first degree graduates increased by 2% from 258,800 in 1997/98 to 263,700 in 1998/99.

• Of those gaining a first degree in 1998/99, 8% obtained a first class honours award and 42% obtained an upper second class honours award. This compares exactly with 1997/98.

• 10% of first degree graduates gained their award through part-time study in 1998/99.

• 54% of first degree graduates in 1998/99 were women.

• In 1998/99 38% of first degree graduates achieved their qualification in science, a similar proportion to 1997/98. Of these, 43% were women.

• The number awarded other undergraduate qualifications was 68,200 in 1998/99, an increase of 7% from 1997/98.

• 116,700 students obtained HE qualifications at postgraduate level in 1998/99. Of these, 18,600 (16%) were awarded a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE), 14,300 (12%) completed their studies mainly by research, and a further 83,800 (72%) obtained qualifications after following taught postgraduate courses other than PGCE.

• 33,300 undergraduate and 29,900 postgraduate students obtaining HE qualifications in 1998/99 came from overseas. Overseas students accounted for 14% of all students awarded HE qualifications in 1998/99.

Prepared in collaboration with the Government Statistical Service

Tables

Table 1 shows the numbers of students obtaining HE qualifications at HEIs in the United Kingdom by Mode of Study, Domicile, Gender and Level of Course, 1994/95 to 1998/99.

Table 2 contains information on examination results of students obtaining first degree qualifications at HEIs in the United Kingdom by Gender and Mode of Study, 1994/95 to 1998/99.

Table 3 shows the subject areas of HE qualifications obtained at HEIs in the United Kingdom by Level of Course and Gender, 1994/95 to 1998/99.

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Notes to Editors

1. The statistics in this SFR are derived from data collected from publicly funded higher education institutions in the UK by HESA. They include HE qualifications awarded by the Open University but exclude those obtained at further education colleges, the University of Buckingham and at private and independent HE colleges.
2. The 1998/99 figures in this SFR are provisional.
3. A statistical reference volume Students in Higher Education Institutions, 1998/99 setting out more information about students in higher education in the UK will be published by HESA in April 2000.
4. The 1994/95 and 1995/96 figures presented include some adjustment to take account of either miscoding or under-reporting of qualifiers. Details of these adjustments can be found in earlier versions of this SFR.
5. The number of qualifications awarded in 1996/97 has been adjusted to include under-reporting by four institutions.
6. Differences in reporting practices between 1996/97 and 1997/98 by some institutions affected growth rates, particularly those for students obtaining qualifications in the Postgraduate Taught and Other Undergraduate categories. Correcting the growth rates to take account of this produced the following figures: full-time postgraduate taught growth rate +5% (instead of +16% shown in the earlier tables), part-time postgraduate taught growth rate +4% (+1%), and part-time other undergraduate growth rate +4% (+8%). There was no change to the growth rate shown in the earlier tables for the full-time other undergraduate category.
7. The 1997/98 figures presented include some adjustment to take account of either miscoding or under-reporting of qualifiers by two institutions.
8. The 1998/99 figures presented include some adjustment to take account of under-reporting of qualifiers by one institution.
9. Differences in reporting practices between 1997/98 and 1998/99 in the coding of Postgraduate Taught writing-up students by several institutions will have some affect on the growth rates between these years.

Definitions

1. Higher education students are those students on courses that are of a standard that is higher than the Advanced Level of the General Certificate of Education, the Higher Grade of the Scottish Certificate of Education, GNVQ/NVQ level 3 or the BTEC or SCOTVEC National Certificate/Diploma.
2. The figures reported in this SFR are counts of student enrolments associated with the award of an HE qualification during the period 1 August to 31 July.

   For ease of reading the terms student and enrolment are used interchangeably.

   It is acceptable for institutions to update leavers information by making a late return of results for those students who leave an HEI at the end of the period 1 August to 31 July, for whom the institution does not know the examination results by the HESA student record return date. The student record return dates for all the academic years presented were 15 September or the first Thursday after this date.

   The figures reported in this SFR for the academic years 1995/96 to 1998/99 include all qualifications which were reported to HESA prior to 15 January. In the first reporting year, 1994/95, for operational reasons, the qualifications obtained include those reported prior to 1 March (1996).

3. Level of course.

   Postgraduate courses are those leading to higher degrees, and diplomas and certificates (including postgraduate certificates of education and professional qualifications) which usually require a first degree as an entry qualification.

   First degrees include first degrees, first degrees with qualified teacher status, enhanced first degrees, first degrees obtained concurrently with a diploma, and intercalated first degrees.

   Other undergraduate HE includes all HE courses not listed above (e.g. Diploma of Higher Education, Higher National Diploma, etc.).

4. Mode of study.

   1994/95 to 1997/98

   Full-time students include all students studying full-time (for more than 18 weeks in the academic year), students on thick or thin sandwich courses, and those on a study-related year out of their institution.

   Part-time students include those studying part-time, on block release, during the evenings only, or full-time for less than 18 weeks.

   Other modes of study include students writing up theses or on sabbatical.

   From 1996/97, the figures exclude those students studying for their whole programme of study entirely outside of the UK.

   1998/99

   Full-time students include all students studying full-time(for more than or equal to 24 weeks in the academic year), and students on thick or thin sandwich courses.

   Part-time students include those studying part-time, on block release, during the evenings only, full-time for less than 24 weeks in the academic year or those employing "Other modes of study".

   Other modes of study include those students writing up theses or on sabbatical.

5. UK domiciled students are those normally resident in the United Kingdom, including those living in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

6. In the tables, ‘1995’ refers to the academic year 1994/95, ‘1996’ refers to the academic year 1995/96, ‘1997’ refers to the academic year 1996/97, ‘1998’ refers to the academic year 1997/98 and ‘1999’ refers to the academic year 1998/99. The definitions of the symbols used in the tables are:

   ‘0.0’ zero.

   ‘-’ non-zero, less than the least significant figure shown.

   ‘.’ not applicable.

7. Press enquiries should be directed to the Data Provision team at the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; Tel: 01242 211133. General enquiries about HESA data within this SFR should be addressed to Denise Bamford, Data Analyst, at the same address.

Ends

Table 1: Qualifications Obtained by Students on Higher Education Courses by Mode of Study, Domicile, Gender and Level of Course, 1994/95 to 1998/99(1)

• (1) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraph 2.
• (2) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraph 4.
• (3) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraph 5.
• (4) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraphs 6 and 7.
• (5) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraph 8.
• (6) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraph 9.

Table 2: Examination Results of Students Obtaining First Degree Qualifications by Gender and Mode of Study, 1994/95 to 1998/99(1)

• (1) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraphs 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8.
• (2) As a percentage of those whose class of first degree was known.

Table 3: Qualifications Obtained by Students on Higher Education Courses by Level of Course, Gender and Subject Area 1994/95 to 1998/99(1)

(1) Please refer to Notes to Editors paragraphs 2, 4 to 9.