A profile of the UK higher education sector 2000/01

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 1999/2000. The volume provides a quantitative overview of the UK higher education (HE) sector in 1999/2000, drawing together information from various sources concerning students of HE institutions, applicants, staffing, finance, student support and other aspects of HE provision.

Figures for 1999/2000 show that in this academic year there were a total of 2,060,630 enrolments on courses leading to HE qualifications and credits, 204,300 of which were at further education (FE) institutions. There were just under a million full-time students studying first degrees in HE and FE institutions. A total of 460,260 students obtained HE qualifications in 1999/2000. By the end of 2000, 68.2% of leavers within the first destinations survey reported employment as their main activity. The sector had a total income of £12.8 billion and an academic workforce of 135,750.

Other key points

• There were 714,580 students taking courses of professional and personal development (not leading to HE qualifications or credits) in UK HE institutions.
• A total of 224,660 HE students were domiciled in the EU or other overseas countries, representing 12.1% of all HE students.
• There were 442,030 UCAS applicants for 2000 entry, of which 76.9% (339,750) were accepted.
• 30.5% of academic staff were involved solely in research activities.
• Of the 351,970 first degree entrants in 1999/2000, 30.5% were known to be aged 21 and over.
• 57.0% of 20 year olds were enrolled in higher education in Greece compared with 10.0% in Denmark.

Notes for editors

1. All numbers of staff and students quoted above have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been calculated on precise numbers however.
2. The Volume Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1999/2000 provides a statistical overview of Higher Education in the UK for 1999/2000.
3. The Volume is available, price £32, from the Customer Services Team, HESA Services Ltd., 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone: 01242 255577. An electronic version on disk is available, price £35 + VAT. A list of other publications is also available from the Customer Services Team.
4. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
5. Press enquiries should be directed to the Data Provision Team at HESA, 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone 01242 211133. Other enquiries about HESA data should be addressed to the Data Provision Team at the same address.

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