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Changes in undergraduate student numbers between 2008/09 and 2015/16

The Sunday Times front page article, “Universities take foreign students ahead of British” (6 August 2017), discussed changes in UK domiciled undergraduate student numbers between 2008/09 and 2015/16. The article has prompted significant commentary on social media – including discussion of the data that HESA holds on student numbers.

HESA holds data on student numbers going back to 1994/95, with data broken down by university, level and mode of study, and domicile, among other categories (we have a page with overview tables since 1994/95).

UK domiciled undergraduate student numbers

The data shows that if you compare 2008/09 with 2015/16, there has been a fall in the total number of UK domiciled undergraduate students in higher education, from 1,673,655 in 2008/09 to 1,509,560 in 2015/16. However, this overall change masks significant variations when the data is broken down by mode and level.  

There has been an overall rise in the number of UK domiciled first degree students (i.e. students pursuing bachelor’s degrees), from 1,198,385 in 2008/09 to 1,342,770 in 2015/16. This total includes a rise among those studying full-time (from 1,001,995 to 1,172,855), and a drop in those studying part-time (from 196,395 to 169,915).  

By contrast, the number of UK domiciled students pursuing other undergraduate programmes (i.e. not bachelor’s degree students) has fallen significantly, from 475,265 in 2008/09 to 166,795 in 2015/16).

Non-EU domiciled undergraduate student numbers

Similar trends can be seen in the number of non-EU domiciled students studying in the UK, with drops in the numbers of part-time first degree students (from 5,765 to 3,185) and all other undergraduate students (from 19,590 to 12,885). The number of non-EU domiciled students on first degrees has increased significantly, from 92,620 to 143,300.

Numbers of other EU domiciled students are shown in the table below for completeness.

Further data

Further data on student numbers can be found on our website, including the relevant figures broken down by individual providers:

  • Student numbers per provider in 2008/09 can be found in our free Students in Higher Education 2008/09 publication (Table 0 for all undergraduate students; Table 9a for first degree students).
  • Total student numbers per provider in 2015/16 can be found in the free Table 1 of our Students in Higher Education 2015/16 publication. Numbers of first degree students can be found by purchasing the full publication, or by downloading the free HESA stats app.

Our data should be read alongside our published definitions. We are always looking at ways to develop the presentation of data on our website to ensure it is accessible and easy to understand by all, and we welcome feedback on this. Our Press Office ([email protected]) regularly assists journalists in understanding the nuances of our data to ensure their reporting is robust and accurate, and we are happy to provide this service to anyone who wants to make use of our data.

Student numbers: Overview

UK domiciled students

 

2008/09

2015/16

Total undergraduate students

1,673,655

1,509,560

Total first degree students

1,198,385

1,342,770

Full-time first degree students

1,001,995

1,172,855

Part-time first degree students

196,395

169,915

Total other undergraduate degree students

475,265

166,795

Other EU domiciled students

 

2008/09

2015/16

Total undergraduate students

73,375

82,100

Total first degree students

60,735

77,825

Full-time first degree students

57,700

75,880

Part-time first degree students

3,035

1,945

Total other undergraduate degree students

12,635

4,275

Non-EU domiciled students

 

2008/09

2015/16

Total undergraduate students

112,215

156,180

Total first degree students

92,620

143,300

Full-time first degree students

86,855

140,115

Part-time first degree students

5,765

3,185

Total other undergraduate degree students

19,590

12,885

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