Academic year 2022/23

Participation measures in higher education

Data guidance

Published

Description

This guidance describes the data included in the Participation Measures in Higher Education: 2022/23 Official Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (opens in new tab) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data. (opens in new tab)

The methodology page attached to this release should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data. 

Coverage

The release covers the latest Cohort-based Higher Education Participation (CHEP) measure.

For each cohort of pupils registered at English schools at age 15, we track their participation rates in HE by age 25 (CHEP-25). 

Also included are underlying tables containing data on participation by age 20 and by age 30 (CHEP-20, CHEP-30).

Work-based learning (including most apprenticeships) is not included in most data files. However, all learning at levels 4 and above, including work-based learning, is included in the two data files ‘CHEP Overall - All L4+’ and ‘CHEP Level - All L4+’.

Rounding and suppression

Headcounts have not been rounded in order to maximise the utility of the statistics while minimising the risk of disclosure. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.

More information about the Departmental policy on confidentiality can be found here: 

External_Confidentiality_Policy (opens in new tab)

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.

CHEP Overall

Filename
chep_overall.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation by ages 25, 20 and 30 (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30)
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
entry_ageAge entered HE
rateEntry percentage
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CHEP Gender

Filename
chep_gender.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) by gender
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
entry_ageAge entered HE
genderGender
rateEntry percentage
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CHEP Qualification Aim

Filename
chep_qualification_aim.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) by qualification aim
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
entry_ageAge entered HE
levelLevel of Study
rateEntry percentage
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CHEP Mode

Filename
chep_mode.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) by mode of study
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
entry_ageAge entered HE
modeMode of Study
rateEntry percentage
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CHEP Region

Filename
chep_region.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) by region
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
entry_ageAge entered HE
rateEntry percentage
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CHEP Projected

Filename
heip_projected.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2006/07 to 2022/23
Content
A comparison of a HEIP-like projection using the new cohort-based figures against the old HEIP projection measure
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsEntrants
methodologyMethodology
rateEntry percentage
Footnotes
  1. For the projections from 2016/17 based on the cohort figures, the earlier projections are less robust due to changes in the matching method in those years.
  2. Additional providers who returned data to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Alternative record have been included from 2014/15 as a separate series.
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CHEP Age

Filename
chep_age.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2020/21
Content
HE participation by specific age, including a cumulative rate
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
age_in_heAge entered HE
cumulative_rateCumulative entry percentage
entrantsEntrants
rateEntry percentage
Footnotes
  1. "No data" refers to where a cohort has not yet reached the age specified by the 2022/23 academic year.
  2. For the 2005/06 cohort, the rate for 18-year-olds is understated. This is explained in the Limitations section in the Methodology.
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CHEP Overall - All L4+

Filename
chep_all_L4_plus_overall_with_cohort_populations.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2001/02 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation by ages 25, 20 and 30 (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) including all level 4+ learning
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
cohort_populationNumber of people in cohort of 15-year-olds
entrantsNumber of entrants
entry_ageAge entered L4+
rateEntry percentage
Footnotes
  1. Data includes all qualifications at level 4 and above, including all work-based learning such as apprenticeships.
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CHEP Level - All L4+

Filename
chep_all_L4_plus_detailed_level.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2005/06 to 2017/18
Content
HE participation by ages 25, 20 and 30 (CHEP-25, CHEP-20, CHEP-30) by level of study including all level 4+ learning
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
entrantsNumber of entrants
entry_ageAge entered L4+
levelDetailed level
rateEntry percentage
Footnotes
  1. Data includes all qualifications at level 4 and above, including all work-based learning such as apprenticeships.
  2. The breakdown by level of study including all learning at level 4 and above is currently only available for the CHEP-25 measure on a complete and consistent basis between 2020/21 and 2022/23, which relates to the three 15-year-old cohorts between 2010/11 and 2012/13.
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