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Higher level learners in England - Summary
Higher level learners in England from 2015/16 to 2024/25.
Department for Education
Academic year 2024/25
Higher Level Learners in England
Participation in higher level learning at Further Education Providers (FEPs) and Higher Education Providers (HEPs) for English-domiciled learners in England.
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Featured tables are pre-prepared tables created from a statistical release's data sets. They provide statistics that are regularly requested by some users (such as local councils, regional government or government policy teams) and can be adapted to switch between different categories (such as different geographies, time periods or characteristics where available).
Data sets: download or create tables
Data sets present comprehensive open data from which users can create their own tables using the EES table tool or download a zipped CSV file.
18 data sets available for download
Age
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by age group.
- Number of rows
- 57,246
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Age
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Disability
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by self-reported disability status.
- Number of rows
- 22,447
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Disability status
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Equivalent or lower qualification
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by equivalent or lower qualification (ELQ) status. OfS-recognised HE only.
- Number of rows
- 10,560
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Equivalent or lower qualification already held
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Ethnicity
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by ethnicity.
- Number of rows
- 255,327
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Ethnicity
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
IMD
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile of permanent address.
- Number of rows
- 42,831
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- IMD quintile
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Level on entry
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by level held on entry. OfS-recognised HE only.
- Number of rows
- 31,056
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Local Skills Improvement Plan
Local skills improvement plan area, National
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by local skills improvement plan (LSIP) area of permanent address.
- Number of rows
- 26,892
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Mode
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by mode of study.
- Number of rows
- 21,917
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Provider category
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by provider category.
- Number of rows
- 36,699
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Qualification aim
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by qualification aim.
- Number of rows
- 46,413
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Region
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by region of permanent address.
- Number of rows
- 7,617
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Sex
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by sex.
- Number of rows
- 25,951
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Technical route
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by technical route. Excludes apprenticeships and institutional credit.
- Number of rows
- 25,772
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2019/20 to 2024/25
Type of learning
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by type of learning.
- Number of rows
- 7,617
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Level of study
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by level of study.
- Number of rows
- 7,617
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Subject
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by subject area of study (Common Aggregation Hierarchy level 1 and 2).
- Number of rows
- 262,830
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2019/20 to 2024/25
Local authority
Local authority district, National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by local authority district of permanent address.
- Number of rows
- 385,447
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Level of study
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2024/25
Primary funding source
National, Regional
English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by primary funding source of tuition fees.
- Number of rows
- 12,672
- Indicators
- Number of entrants
- Number of qualifiers
- Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
- Filters
- Broad primary funding source
- Broad type of higher learning
- Detailed type of higher learning
- Time period
- 2015/16 to 2022/23
Supporting files
Supporting files provide an area for teams to supply non-standard files for download by users where required.
5 supporting data files
Table 1 - Mapping of qualification category to levels 4 to 8.xlsx
How the HESA qualification categories have been mapped to levels 4 to 8.
Table 2 - Mapping sector subject area tier 2 to CAH level 2
How the sector subject area tier 2 codes have been mapped to CAH level 2 subjects.
Table 3 - Mapping CAH Level 3 to technical routes
How the CAH Level 3 subjects have been mapped to technical routes.
Table 4 - Mapping sector subject area tier 2 principle subject to technical route
How the sector subject area tier 2 principle subjects have been mapped to technical routes.
Table 5 - HESA Student Record - Collection versions
The version numbers of the HESA Student Record collections used in this release.
Data guidance
Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.
Description
This document describes the data included in the Higher Level Learners in England, 2024/25 statistical release’s underlying data files.
Coverage
This release refers only to learners in England studying at levels 4 to 8 (opens in 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 2024/25. Time series data for the academic years since 2015/16 have also been included.
Rounding and suppression
The Code of Practice for Official Statistics (opens in new tab) requires DfE to take reasonable steps to ensure that its published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality. In addition, the Higher Education Statistics Agency requires that all statistics published using HESA data employ a suppression methodology the same as, or reasonably equivalent to, their Standard Rounding Methodology (opens in new tab).
Throughout the publication, all numbers are rounded to the nearest 5 to preserve confidentiality. Percentages are calculated on pre-rounded data and are rounded to one decimal place, 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%.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Higher Level Learners in England statistics and data:
HE Participation and Provider Statistics Team
Email: he.statistics@education.gov.ukContact name: Louis Erritt
Press office
If you have a media enquiry:
Telephone: 020 7783 8300
Public enquiries
If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:
Phone: 0370 000 2288
Opening times
Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.30pm (closed on bank holidays)