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Statistical overview of higher education

Staff Students Publication Statistics

HE Statistics for the United Kingdom 2004/05

The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s latest publication, “HE Statistics for the United Kingdom 2004/05” is released today. It is prepared in conjunction with the Government Statistical Service and provides an official overview of the UK’s higher education sector using HESA data. It also contains information from a wide-range of other bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Student Loans Company, the Office for National Statistics and UCAS.

Some key points from this year’s publication are:

  • The total number of HE level students at UK HE & FE institutions has risen from 2,440,510 in 2003/04 to 2,480,145 in 2004/05.
  • 633,045 students obtained HE qualifications from UK higher education institutions in 2004/05.
  • 346,305 staff were working at UK HE institutions, of which 160,655 were academic staff.
  • A further 164,550 staff were classed as ‘atypical’1, of which 81,795 were academic.
  • The sector had a total income of nearly £18 billion, up 6.5% on 2003/04 (in absolute terms).
  • The number of students taking an initial teacher training course2 continued to grow in 2004/05 with a total of 37,265 first year UK domiciled students (36,365 in 2003/04).
  • Among those students qualifying from an initial teacher training course, women continue to outnumber men three to one, 23,350 women against just 7,815 men qualifying in 2004/05.
  • For the first time, EU domicile figures include the 2004 EU accession countries. The data shows 100,005 EU domicile (excluding UK) students at UK HEI’s for 2004/05 (89,545 in 2003/04 excluding the 2004 EU accession countries).
  • There were 522,155 UCAS applicants for 2005 entry, of which 78% (405,370) were accepted.

Notes to editors

  1. 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.
  2. Initial or pre-service teacher training course leading to qualified teacher status or to registration as a school teacher with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
  3. Data relating to staff and student numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5. FTE values are not subject to the rounding strategy. 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0.
  4. Press enquiries should be directed to:
    • HESA Information Provision Team
    • 01242 211133
    • [email protected]
    • 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
  5. Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 2004/05 is available from the Customer Services Team:
  6. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.

Ends

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