HESA Resources of Higher Education Institutions reveals: 5000 more academic staff in UK higher education sector

Data from the newly released HESA Resources of Higher Education Institutions 2006/07 publication shows that the number of academic staff employed at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) increased by 5120 (3.1%) between the 2005/06 and 2006/07 academic years.

The number of non-academic staff also increased by 3630 (1.9%) over the same period. The total number of staff employed at UK HEIs rose by 8750 (2.5%).

The rise in numbers of academic staff was not spread evenly between departments. There were 11.7% more academic staff employed in Design, Creative and Performing Arts cost centres, but only 0.9% more staff in Engineering and Technology cost centres.

The income and expenditure of UK HEIs also increased from 2005/06 to 2006/07 with income exceeding £21.2 billion and expenditure rising to £21.0 billion.

The HESA Resources of Higher Education Institutions 2006/07 reference volume includes comprehensive coverage of HE staff and finance data. Resources of Higher Education Institutions 2006/07 is available for purchase for £50 + VAT at £5.95 from the HESA sales desk by calling (01242) 211155. Back issues of this publication are also available for purchase.

Further information is available online or from the HESA Press Office on 01242 211120.

Notes for Editors

1. Press enquiries should be directed to:
   
   • Simon Kemp
   • HESA Press Officer
   • 01242 211120
   • [email protected]
   • 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
2. In the above data 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
3. Atypical staff are not included in the data tables. See ‘Terms of employment' below for the definition of atypical staff.
4. HESA data is collected from all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK, plus the University of Buckingham, which is a non-publicly-funded institution. The 2006/07 data covers 170 HEIs (133 in England, 13 in Wales, 20 in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland).
5. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
6. Definitions of the terms used in this press release follow:
   

   Staff definitions:

   Full-person equivalent (FPE)

   Individuals can hold more than one contract with an institution and each contract may involve more than one different activity. In published analyses staff counts have been divided amongst their activities in proportion to the declared FTE for each activity. This results in counts of full person equivalents (FPE). Staff FPE counts are calculated on the basis of contract activities that were active on 1 December of the reporting period (using the HESA staff contract population).

   Rounding strategy

   Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. These tabulations are derived from the HESA non-statutory populations and may differ slightly from those published by related statutory bodies. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:

   • 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
   • All other numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.

   So for example 3 is represented as 5, 22 is represented as 20, 3286 is represented as 3285 while 0, 20, 55, 3510 remain unchanged.

   SOC - Occupational coding for higher education staff

   Academic staff are defined as academic professionals who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking academic teaching and research within HE institutions. They also include vice-chancellors, medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians and other health care professionals who undertake lecturing or research activities. All academic staff fall into group 2A of the SOC classification, regardless of their discipline (e.g. science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, languages).

   Non-academic staff are defined as members of staff who fall into one of the remaining 12 occupational categories such as managers, non-academic professionals, student welfare workers, secretaries, caretakers and cleaners.

   Terms of employment

   The data above are restricted to non-atypical staff

   Atypical staff are those whose working arrangements are not permanent, involve complex employment relationships and/or involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider. These may be characterised by a high degree of flexibility for both the work provider and the working person, and may involve a triangular relationship that includes an agent. Source: DTI Discussion Document on Employment Status, July 2003, paragraph 23.

   In addition to this definition from the DTI, some HE specific guidance has been devised by HESA in consultation with institutions. Atypical contracts meet one or more of the following conditions:

   • Are for less than four consecutive weeks - meaning that no statement of terms and conditions needs to be issued
   • Are for one-off/short-term tasks - for example answering phones during clearing, staging an exhibition, organising a conference. There is no mutual obligation between the work provider and working person beyond the given period of work or project. In some cases individuals will be paid a fixed fee for the piece of work unrelated to hours/time spent
   • Involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider - but not as part of teaching company schemes or for teaching and research supervision associated with the provision of distance learning education
   • Involve a high degree of flexibility often in a contract to work ‘as-and-when' required - for example conference catering, student ambassadors, student demonstrators
   • Equate to less than 5% FTE during the reporting period (this condition only applies until 2005/06, after which there will be no FTE threshold).

   Cost centre groups and cost centres

   Cost centres have been assigned into cost centre groups, which reflect both academic similarities and comparable resource requirements.

   Medicine, dentistry & health

   • 01 Clinical medicine
   • 02 Clinical dentistry
   • 04 Anatomy & physiology
   • 05 Nursing & paramedical studies
   • 06 Health & community studies
   • 07 Psychology & behavioural sciences
   • 08 Pharmacy & pharmacology

   Agriculture, forestry & veterinary science

   • 03 Veterinary science
   • 13 Agriculture & forestry

   Biological, mathematical & physical sciences

   • 10 Biosciences
   • 11 Chemistry
   • 12 Physics
   • 14 Earth, marine & environmental sciences
   • 24 Mathematics

   Engineering & technology

   • 16 General engineering
   • 17 Chemical engineering
   • 18 Mineral, metallurgy & materials engineering
   • 19 Civil engineering
   • 20 Electrical, electronic & computer engineering
   • 21 Mechanical, aero & production engineering
   • 25 IT & systems sciences & computer software engineering.

   Architecture & planning

   • 23 Architecture, built environment & planning.

   Administrative, business & social studies

   • 26 Catering & hospitality management
   • 27 Business & management studies
   • 28 Geography
   • 29 Social studies
   • 30 Media studies

   Humanities & language based studies & archaeology

   • 31 Humanities & language based studies
   • 35 Modern languages
   • 37 Archaeology

   Design, creative & performing arts

   • 33 Design & creative arts

   Education

   • 34 Education
   • 38 Sports science & leisure studies
   • 41 Continuing education

   Non-academic cost centres

   • 51 Total academic services
   • 54 Central administration & services
   • 55 Staff & student facilities
   • 56 Premises
   • 57 Residences & Catering

   Finance definitions:

   Reference dates 2006/07

   Financial data relates to the institutions' financial year, i.e. 1 August 2006 to 31 July 2007.

   Reference dates 2005/06

   Financial data relates to the institutions' financial year, i.e. 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006.

   Ends