Academic year 2018/19

Higher Level Learners in England

Data guidance

Published 21 October 2021

Description

This document describes the data included in the Higher Level Learners in England, 2018/19 ad hoc statistical release’s underlying data files. 

Coverage

This release refers only to learners in England doing study aims at education levels 4 to 8 (opens in a new tab). 

Analysis is presented for English domiciled learners to reflect funding eligibility more closely and allow for consistent comparisons across both HESA and ILR sources.

Most of the data included in this release refers to academic year 2018/19. More recent data for 2019/20 are available from HESA and ESFA (in the ILR), but further data processing will be required before they can be included in the statistical release. Time series data for academic years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 has also been included at summary level.

Rounding and suppression

The Code of Practice for Official Statistics (opens in a new tab) requires DfE to take reasonable steps to ensure that its published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality.

Throughout the publication, all numbers are rounded to the nearest 5 to preserve confidentiality. Percentages are calculated on pre-rounded data but are not published if they are fractions of a small group of people (fewer than 22.5).

Due to rounding, it is possible that the sum of the category percentages may not always total to 100%.

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

Headline summary boxes

• Filename: headline_stats_summary_211017.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  Headline statistics used in the blue summary boxes of the publication.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
entrants_level4	Entrants to Level 4 in 2018/19
entrants_level5	Entrants to Level 5 in 2018/19
entrants_level6	Entrants to Level 6 in 2018/19
entrants_level7	Entrants to Level 7 in 2018/19
entrants_level8	Entrants to Level 8 in 2018/19
percentage_HEPs	Percentage of higher-level entrants registered in Higher Education Providers (HEPs) in 2018/19

Higher level learners by age group - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_age_group.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by age, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
age_group	Age group
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by disability - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_disability.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by disability, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
disability	Disability status
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by equivalent or lower qualification - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_equivalent_or_lower_qualification.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by Equivalent or Lower Qualification (ELQ) status, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
equivalent_or_lower_qualification	Equivalent or lower qualification
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. Caution should be applied when interpreting these statistics due to the high level of unknowns. To allow for comparisons across learning types, the following percentages are based on learners where ELQ status is known.

Higher level learners by ethnicity - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_ethnicity.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by ethnicity, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
ethnicity	Ethinicity
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by index of multiple deprivation quintile - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_imd_quintile.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile of domicile, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
IMD_quintile	Index of multiple deprivation quintile
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by primary funding source - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_primary_funding_source.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by primary funding source of tuition fees, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
primary_funding_source	Funding

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. Those receiving a Master's Loan (https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan) are not reported as having a student loan as their primary source of tuition fee funding in this data. Unlike for undergraduate loans, money is paid directly to individual learners themselves and providers do not receive the student loans funding directly.

Higher level learners by provider category - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_provider_category.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by registered provider type, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
provider_category	Provider category

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by qualification aims - 201819 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_qualification_aim_211017_1400.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by qualification aim, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
qualification_aim	Qualification aim

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by region - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_region_211018_2013.csv
• Geographic levels: National; Regional
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by region of domicile, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by sex - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_gender.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by sex, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
sex	Gender

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by study mode - 2015/16 to 2018/19 academic years

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_study_mode.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015/16 to 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by mode of study, OfS-recognised HE only, academic years 2015/16 to 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
level	Qualification level
mode_of_study	Mode of study
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic

Higher level learners by subject area - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_subject_area.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by subject area of study, academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
subject_area	Subject area

Footnotes

1. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.

Higher level learners by technical route - 2018/19 academic year

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_technical_route.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England by technical route, OfS-recognised HE and Other Higher Level learners only (i.e. excluding apprenticeships and institutional credit). Academic year 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type_broad	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students by characteristic
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants by characteristic
technical_route	Technical route

Higher level learners by type of higher level learning - 2015/16 to 2018/19 academic years

• Filename: higher_level_learner_numbers_by_type_of_higher_level_learning_211017_1400.csv
• Geographic levels: National
• Time period: 2015/16 to 2018/19
• Content:

  English domiciled entrants and total number of learners to higher-level learning in England, academic years 2015/16 to 2018/19

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name	Variable description
he_type	Type of higher level learning
level	Qualification level
number_of_entrants	Number of entrants
number_of_students_total	All students
percentage_all_students_by_characteristic	Percentage of all students
percentage_entrants_by_characteristic	Percentage of entrants

Footnotes

1. The “Other Higher Level (Unfunded higher level)” category is a lower bound estimate. There is likely to be some unfunded-learning in FE providers that is not recorded as it is only mandatory for providers to record information in the ILR for their ESFA-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
2. See the about release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.