1997/98 Higher education statistics for the UK published by HESA

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.

Figures for 1997/98 highlight the continuing development of UK higher education. In this academic year there was a total of 2,031,103 HE level enrolments, 1,800,064 at HEIs and a further 231,039 at FE institutions. 64.8% of all students studied full-time, and there were just under 990,000 first degree students. Of the 437,128 qualifiers, 59.2% were at first degree level. Of the 269,469 respondents to the HESA first destination survey, 63.4% of qualifiers were known to have entered employment. The sector had an academic workforce of 128,076 staff and a total income of £11.6 billion.

Other key points

• There were 213,264 overseas domiciled students at UK HEIs, an increase of 7.1% from last year.
• 41.3% of first year students were known to be aged 25 and over.
• There were 60,200 UK domiciled students taking Initial Teaching Training (ITT) courses. 76.4% of these students were female.
• There were 446,457 UCAS applicants for 1998 entry, of which 73.9% (329,788) were accepted.
• 86.3% of academic staff were employed full-time.
• 1997/98 saw 838,728 UK domiciled students receiving UK LEA mandatory/discretionary awards.
• 22.0% of UK 18-21 year olds enrolled at UK HEIs, compared with Spain (26.0%) and Greece (29.0%).

Notes for editors

1. The Volume Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 1997/98 provides a statistical overview of Higher Education in the UK for 1997/98.
2. 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.
3. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
4. Press enquiries should be directed to Jo Roper, Data Provision 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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