HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2006/07 reveals increase in number of East European students studying in the UK

Source: HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2005/06, 2006/07

* Total EU excludes UK and 2007 Accession countries - Romania and Bulgaria

The number of non-EU domiciled students also continued to rise. The number of HE students domiciled from India rose by 24% from 19,205 in 2005/06 to 23,835 in 2006/07. China remains the source of the highest number of non-UK domiciled HE students, though numbers fell by 2% from 50,755 in 2005/06 to 49,595 in 2006/07.

Top ten non-EU countries of domicile in 2006/07 for HE students in UK HEIs

Source: HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2005/06, 2006/07

* Figures for China do not include students whose domicile was recorded as Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan

There were a total of 1,803,425 undergraduate students and 559,390 postgraduate students in HE in 2006/07, making a total of 2,362,815, up 1% from 2,336,110 in 2005/06. 33% of undergraduates and 57% of postgraduates were studying part-time.

All HE students in UK HEIs by level of study and mode of study 2006/07

Source: HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2006/07

The HESA Students in Higher Education Institutions 2006/07 reference volume includes comprehensive student data on student domicile, level and mode of study, subjects of study, institution, qualifications obtained, highest qualification on entry, and more. Students in 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. 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 multiple of 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:
   
   • 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
   • All other numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 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.

3. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
   

   Student Definitions 2006/07

   Coverage

   Higher education (HE) students are those students on programmes of study for which the level of instruction is above that of level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, e.g. courses leading to the Advanced Level of the General Certificate of Education (GCE A-levels), the Advanced Level of the Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE A-levels) or the Advanced Higher Grade and Higher Grade of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Advanced Highers/Highers).

   The HESA Student Record contains information about individual enrolments, which, because a student can be enrolled on more than one programme of study, will exceed the number of students. Postdoctoral students are not included in the HESA Student Record.

   The HESA standard registration population has been derived from the HESA Student Record and ensures that similar activity is counted in a similar way irrespective of when it occurs. The population splits the student experience into ‘years of programme of study'; the first year of which is deemed to start on the commencement date of the programme with second, and subsequent years, starting on, or near, the anniversary of that date. Registrations are counted once for each ‘year of programme of study'. Short course registrations are counted in the standard registration population regardless of whether they are active on 1 December of the reporting period. However students who leave within two weeks of their start date, or anniversary of their start date, and are on a course of more than two weeks duration, are not included in the standard registration population. Dormant students, incoming visiting and exchange students from overseas and students studying for the whole of their programme of study outside of the UK are also excluded from this population.

   Mode of study

   Full-time students are those normally required to attend an institution for periods amounting to at least 24 weeks within the year of programme of study, on thick or thin sandwich courses, and those on a study-related year out of their institution. During that time students are normally expected to undertake periods of study, tuition or work experience which amount to an average of at least 21 hours per week.

   Part-time students are those recorded as studying part-time, or studying full-time on courses lasting less than 24 weeks, on block release, or studying during the evenings only.

   Level of study

   The level of study is taken from the qualification aim of the student.

   Postgraduate programmes of study are those leading to higher degrees, diplomas and certificates (including Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and professional qualifications) and usually require that entrants are already qualified to degree level (i.e. already qualified at level 4 of the National Qualifications Framework). Higher degrees include doctorates, masters degrees and higher bachelors degrees.

   Undergraduate programmes of study are first degrees with or without eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body, first degrees with qualified teacher status (QTS)/registration with the General Teaching Council (GTC), enhanced first degrees, first degrees obtained concurrently with a diploma and intercalated first degrees, Foundation Degrees, diplomas in HE with eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care regulatory body, Higher National Diploma (HND), Higher National Certificate (HNC), Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE), Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE), foundation courses at HE level, NVQ/SVQ levels 4 and 5, post-degree diplomas and certificates at undergraduate level, professional qualifications at undergraduate level and other undergraduate diplomas and certificates including post registration health and social care courses. Entrants to these programmes of study do not usually require an HE qualification.

   Domicile

   Domicile data is supplied to HESA in the form of postcodes (UK domiciled students) or country codes. Postcodes are mapped to counties, unitary authorities and UK nations using the National Statistics All Fields Postcode Directory. Countries are mapped to geographical regions following consultation with the Department for Education and Skills. Where no data is supplied about the student's domicile, fee eligibility is used to determine whether domicile is European Union, including the UK, or not.

   UK domiciled students are those whose normal residence is in the UK, including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

   Of those students who are not UK domiciled, other EU students are those whose normal residence is in countries which were European Union (EU) members as at 1 December of the reporting period. Non-EU students are those whose normal residence prior to commencing their programme of study was outside the EU.

   Ends