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1996/97 HE student data published by HESA

Students in Higher Education Institutions 1996/97 is published today by HESA. The volume contains detailed statistical information about the student body of the UK HE sector.

Figures from this latest HESA publication show 1,756,179 students following HE programmes, (1996/97); 79.3% at undergraduate level. Women made up 52.5% of the student population, with 198,064 overseas students forming 11.3% of the total student body. Full-time first degree students, (878,033), made up slighty less than half of the student population of 177 UK higher education institutions, with a further 184,710 part-time students producing a first-degree total of 1,062,743.

Combined subject courses, (12.1%), continued to be the most common choice among F/T first degree students with business & adminstrative studies, (11.1%), the next popular. Among the 427,070 HE qualifiers, 52% of students who obtained a classified first degree were awarded first or upper second honours, with women obtaining fewer firsts but markedly more upper second honours than their male colleagues.

Key points

  • 64.8% of the 1,756,179 HE students were following full-time or sandwich programmes of study
  • Overseas students made up 35% of all full-time postgraduates
  • Ethnic minorities constituted 12.8% of all first year UK domiciled students
  • There were 40,902 students studying at FE level in HE institutions
  • 65.7% of new students were following programmes of up to three years’ duration, 31% for four years
  • 26.8% of new students on F/T degree courses were aged 21 and over, 63.6% of P/T first degree entrants were 30 or over
  • Sandwich students constituted almost 9% of all undergraduates
  • Just over 10,000 doctorates and 20,000 PGCEs were awarded in 1996/97
  • Part-time students obtained a higher proportion of first-class first degree honours, (8.3% P/T, 7.6% F/T)
  • 19.8% of Mathematical science students were awarded first class degrees, the proportion was 3.7% among Business & administrative studies students.

Notes to editors

  1. The Reference Volume Students in Higher Education Institutions 1996/97 provides a statistical reference of students within Higher Education in the UK for 1996/97.
  2. The Reference Volume is available, price £30, 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.
  3. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
  4. Press Enquiries should be directed to Press Officer at HESA, 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ; telephone: 01242 255577. Other enquiries about HESA data should be addressed to the Data Provision Team at the same address.

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