1999/2000 Higher education student data published by HESA

Students in Higher Education Institutions 1999/2000 is published today by HESA. The volume contains detailed statistical information about the student body of the UK higher education sector.

Figures from this latest HESA publication show 1,856,330 students following HE level programmes at 169 publicly funded UK HE institutions in 1999/2000. 63.5% of these were following full-time or sandwich programmes and 78.0% were studying at undergraduate level. A total of 906,480 full-time first degree students made up 48.8% of the recorded HE student population.

There were 408,620 postgraduate level students, 24.7% of whom were enrolled on higher research degrees, 43.0% on higher taught degrees and the remaining 32.3% on other postgraduate programmes.

A total of 460,260 qualifications were awarded at HE level in 1999/2000 (compared with 446,940 in the previous year). 57.6% (265,270) of these were at first degree level. Of these, 55.1% of those who obtained a classified first degree were awarded first or upper second class honours (compared to 54.0% in 1998/99).

Other key points

• Students from countries other than the UK numbered 224,660 and represented 12.1% of the total student body
• Ethnic minorities constituted 13.0% of all first year UK domiciled students whose ethnicity was known
• Women made up 54.6% of the student population and 56.5% of UK domiciled undergraduates
• 60.6% of part-time first degree entrants were aged 30 or over (1998/99: 59.8%)
• The proportion of undergraduates on Sandwich programmes rose from 8.2% in 1998/99 to 8.6%
• 8.2% of classified first degrees awarded to women were first class honours, compared to 9.6% for men
• Part-time students obtained a higher proportion of first class first degree honours (10.1%) than full-time (8.7%).

Notes for editors

1. The Reference Volume Students in Higher Education Institutions 1999/2000 provides a statistical reference about students within Higher Education in the UK for 1999/2000.
2. The Reference Volume is available from the Customer Services Team, HESA Services Ltd., 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone: 01242 255577. An electronic version on disk is also available. A list of other publications can be obtained 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. ENDS

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