News and insight

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in conjunction with the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), today releases the publication Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1998/99. The volume provides a quantitative overview of the UK higher education (HE) sector in 1998/99, drawing together information from various sources concerning students of HE institutions, applicants, staffing, finance, student support and other aspects of HE provision.

Figures for 1998/99 show that in this academic year there was a total of 2,081,664 enrolments on courses leading to HE qualifications and credits, 235,907 of which were at further education (FE) institutions. There were just over a million full-time students studying first degrees in HE and FE institutions. A total of 446,942 students obtained HE qualifications in 1998/99. By the end of 1999, 66.0% of leavers within the first destinations survey reported employment as their main activity. The sector had a total income of £12.1 billion and an academic workforce of 131,136.

The fifth annual publication of the reference volume First Destinations of Students Leaving Higher Education Institutions 1998/99 is released today by HESA.

According to these most recent statistics available from HESA, 66% of higher education qualifiers whose destination was known entered employment in 1999, compared with 63% in 1998. A further 20% were continuing their education or training. The proportion of leavers assumed unemployed remained at 5%. Of the 158,521 UK domiciled qualifiers who entered employment, 36% were employed in ‘professional occupations’.

Professor Robin Sibson - currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent at Canterbury - will become the new Chief Executive of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) after its first Chief Executive, Brian Ramsden, retires.

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 details of the first destinations of students obtaining higher education (HE) qualifications in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the whole of the United Kingdom (UK) during the academic year 1998/99. In addition, summary data for previous academic years from 1994/95 onwards are included for comparative purposes.

Resources of Higher Education Institutions 1998/99 is published today by HESA. The volume contains detailed statistical information about the institutional finances and academic staff of the UK HE sector.

Figures from this latest HESA publication show the total income of institutions amounted to £12.1 billion (a rise of 4.1%), compared to £11.6 billion in the previous year. Income from research grants & contracts grew by 5.8% to £1.8 billion, with research councils remaining the largest providers of this income by increasing their funding by 4.9% for 1998/99. The total income for academic fees & support grants decreased this year from £2.8 billion in 1997/98 to £2.7 billion, a fall of 4.5%. However, changes in tuition fee arrangements in 1998/99 have resulted in a shift of income from this category to income from the higher education funding councils, which increased by 9.0% (£404 million). Other operating income increased by 5.0% to produce a total of £2.4 billion.

Students in Higher Education Institutions 1998/99 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 1,845,757 students following HE programmes at 169 UK HE institutions in the academic year 1998/99. 78.1% of these were studying at undergraduate level, with 908,332 full-time first degree students making up 49.2% of the total student population. There were a further 93,651 part-time students making up a first-degree total of 1,001,983. 53.9% (994,051) of all students were women, and 11.9 % (219,285) were from overseas.

This Statistical First Release (SFR) has been jointly produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) statisticians. It provides provisional estimates of the numbers of student enrolments on higher education (HE) courses at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom (UK), for the academic year 1999/2000. For the first time the SFR includes estimates of numbers of HE enrolments in Further Education Colleges (FECs) in the UK, for the latest year available.

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.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) has released the first edition of Insight: A Statistical Guide to Undergraduate Study. As a guide for education advisors and potential students alike, Insight provides invaluable factual information on the UK higher education sector, including contextual statistics, institutional profiles, information on entry qualifications and student destinations upon leaving HE. Insight 2000 draws data from the 1997/98 academic year, includes academic expenditure per FTE student, and is HESA’s first publication containing student:staff ratios.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in conjunction with the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), today releases the publication Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1997/98. Combining HESA data with that provided by the University and Colleges Admission Service, the Open University, the Further Education Funding Councils and the DfEE, this publication provides a valuable profile of the UK HE sector for 1997/98.