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 2022/23. Time series data for academic years 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 has also been included at summary level.
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.
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.
Disability status
Filename
higher_level_learners_by_disability_status.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2015/16 to 2022/23
Content
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by self-reported disability status, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
disability_status
Disability indicator
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by type of higher level learning, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Detailed type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
The “Other Higher Level” category is lower bound estimate, combining “Other Higher Level (Unfunded higher level)” and "Other Higher Level (Advanced Learner Loan [ALL] and ESFA funded higher level)". 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.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by age group, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
age
Age
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by equivalent or lower qualification (ELQ) status, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23. OfS recognised HE only.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
equivalent_or_lower_qualification
Equivalent or lower qualification already held
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
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.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by ethnicity, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
ethnicity_major
Ethnicity
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
Between 2021/22 and 2022/23, HESA has reported a large increase in the amount of missing ethnicity data at English providers for students whose permanent address is in the UK.HESA has deemed the level of missing data to be sufficiently high in England and Wales not to publish based solely on the data submitted in 2022/23. To mitigate this, student level ethnicity data from the previous year (if available) has been used to fill in ethnicity gaps for continuing students at providers in England and Wales. This has only been done where ethnicity information is missing or unknown for students within coverage, excluding where it has been returned as 'Prefer not to say', and where known information was submitted for the same study Engagement in the previous year.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile of domicile, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
imd_quintile
IMD quintile
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by National Qualification Framework (NQF) level on entry, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23. OfS recognised HE only.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
level_on_entry
Qualification level held on entry
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
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.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by mode of study, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
mode_of_study
Mode of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by primary funding source of tuition fees, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23. OfS recognised HE only.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
primary_funding_source
Broad primary funding source
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
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
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
HESA's 2022/23 data collection model did not allow providers to flag instances where no fees were charged for a learner's course and providers were asked to to return code 9996 ('Other’) instead. For 2023/24 a new valid entry will be added to be returned where there are 'No fees'. To allow for a more robust comparison across time, the codes for 'No fees' and ‘Other’ have been combined in both HESA and ILR data to create the category ‘Unspecified other funding source or no fees required for course’.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by provider type, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
provider_category
Provider category
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by qualification aim, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
qualification_aim
Qualification aim
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by region of domicile, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
There is missing permanent address information at a number of HE providers in the 2022/23 HESA data. Some of the missing data relates to continuing students for whom it was not possible to retrieve the information from the legacy submissions. Other missing data may be attributed to missing entry information.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by subject area of study (Common Aggregation Hierarchy level 1 and 2), academic years 2019/20 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
subject_level_1
Subject level 1
subject_level_2
Subject level 2
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by technical route, academic years 2019/20 to 2022/23. Excludes apprenticeships and institutional credit.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
technical_route
Technical route
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by National Qualification Framework (NQF) level, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level_of_study
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by sex, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
sex
Sex
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
In 2022/23, some HE providers appear to have returned one of the new codes ‘Information Refused’ and ‘Not Available’ for students previously returned as 'other' in their HESA student data. For this reason it has not been deemed appropriate to publish these categories separately and they have therefore been aggregated with 'Other' to create 'Other/unknown' for all academic years in this release. This combined category has been excluded from percentage calculations.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.
English domiciled higher-level learners in England by local authority district of domicile, academic years 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
broad_type_of_higher_education
Broad type of higher education
level
NQF level of study
number_of_enrolments
Total number of enrolments
number_of_entrants
Number of entrants
number_of_qualifiers
Number of qualifiers
percentage_of_all_enrolments_by_characteristic
Percentage of all enrolments by characteristic
percentage_of_entrants_by_characteristic
Percentage of entrants by characteristic
percentage_of_qualifiers_by_characteristic
Percentage of qualifiers by characteristic
type_of_higher_education
Type of higher education
Footnotes
See the About this release section for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
From 2022/23, HESA's definition of a first year or entrant differs from that used previously with a small impact on overall student numbers. Prior to 2022/23, first year students at HEPs were those with a start date between 1 August and 31 July. For 2022/23, entrants are defined as those students with a start date between 18 July 2022 and 17 July 2023. When used in conjunction with the Standard Registration Population, this has a small impact on overall student numbers, but the revision brings it in line with the concept used in the derivation of the Standard Registration Population.
There is missing permanent address information at a number of HE providers in the 2022/23 HESA data. Some of the missing data relates to continuing students for whom it was not possible to retrieve the information from the legacy submissions. Other missing data may be attributed to missing entry information.
From 2022/23, students in HEPs who are writing-up at the end of the year are now able to be included in HESA's figures if certain conditions are met. In previous years, students in HEPs who are writing-up were excluded entirely.
Derived fields relating to highest qualification awarded are based solely on qualification information returned in 2022/23 and do not use legacy HESA data to identify qualifications which have been previously returned. Therefore, some double counting of qualifications is possible.