Higher Education Student Data 2021/22
More first year students in 2021/22 were from Nigeria than from the European Union. Detailed data from HESA show the changing makeup of the UK student population.
Figures released today show that a growing proportion of students are studying at postgraduate level, and a growing proportion of postgraduates are international students.
29% of students at UK higher education providers were enrolled on postgraduate courses, up from 24% in 2017/18. In 2021/22 the number of new enrolments on postgraduate courses rose 9% from the previous year to 526,645.
Of the total 820,310 postgraduate students enrolled in 2021/22, 45% (372,500) were non-UK domiciled. This proportion has grown from 35% in 2017/18. Among undergraduate students only 15% were non-UK domiciled in 2021/22 compared to 14% in 2017/18.
At postgraduate level the number of students from India (101,765) outnumbered those from China (88,755). 33,715 postgraduate students in 2021/22 were from EU countries, down from 43,765 in 2020/21.
Over one third (37%) of non-UK domicile postgraduate students were studying Business and management subjects. A further 19% were studying Engineering, technology or computing.
Today’s release also shows that the number of students studying wholly overseas for awards or courses of UK universities exceeded half a million in 2021/22. There were a total of 532,460 transnational students, of whom 34% were studying at postgraduate level.
China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka had the highest numbers of transnational students, accounting for 31% of the total between them.
Today’s open data Official Statistics release Higher Education Student Data includes detailed breakdowns of student data in five topics:
- Who’s studying in higher education – the personal characteristics of students.
- What students are studying – the subjects and courses that students take, including a subject breakdown at the most detailed level available.
- Where students come from - includes the numbers of non-UK students by country of origin.
- Where students study - full HE provider level breakdowns including a new table showing students’ location of study. The data shows that 10% of students in 2021/22 were studying by distance learning, while 2% were on a placement or studying abroad for all or part of the year.
- Student progression rates and qualifications - including degree classifications by HE provider.
Most data tables include eight years of data, with older data available through HESA’s publication archive.
Notes
- Data relates to students enrolled between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022.
- See Upcoming data releases for a schedule of Official Statistics releases from HESA.
- HESA is now part of Jisc. Jisc is now the data controller of personal data previously controlled by HESA. Privacy information on the HESA website has been updated.
- HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
