Department for Education

Academic year 2024/25

Widening participation in higher education

Annual statistics on participation in higher education by pupil and study characteristics.

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• Published: 9 July 2026

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  Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.

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  Alternatively use our data catalogue to search and filter for specific data sets from this release or our entire library, providing full data summaries, data previews and access to API data sets.

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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.

16 data sets available for download

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• Individual Age

  National

  HE participation by individual age

  • Number of rows: 253
  • Indicators:
    • Cumulative HE Participation Rate
    • Cumulative HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • HE Participation Rate
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2022/23

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• Pupil Characteristics

  National

  HE participation by pupil characteristics by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 3,116
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • characteristic
  • Time period: 2005/06 to 2021/22

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• Free School Meals

  Local authority, National, Regional

  HE Participation by Free School Meal eligibility by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 40,283
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Free School Meal Status
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2021/22

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• Free School Meals - Gap

  Local authority, National, Regional

  HE Participation by Free School Meal eligibility (including participation rate gap) by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 13,444
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (FSM)
    • HE Participation Rate (Non-FSM)
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2021/22

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• Free School Meals, Sex and Ethnic Group

  National

  HE Participation by Free School Meal eligibility, Sex and Ethnic Group by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 13,626
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Ethnic Group
    • Free School Meal Status
  • Time period: 2005/06 to 2021/22

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• Free School Meals, Sex and Ethnic Group - Region

  Regional

  HE Participation by Free School Meal eligibility, Sex and Ethnic Group - Regional level by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 35,733
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Ethnic Group
    • Free School Meal Status
  • Time period: 2005/06 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
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• Sex

  Local authority, National, Regional

  HE participation by sex by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 40,341
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Sex
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2021/22

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• Ethnicity

  Local authority, National, Regional

  HE participation by ethnic group by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 231,356
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Ethnic Group
  • Time period: 2005/06 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Special Educational Needs

  Local authority, National, Regional

  HE participation by Special Educational Needs Status by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 30,672
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • SEN Status
  • Time period: 2005/06 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
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• Study Characteristics

  National

  HE participation by study characteristics by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 1,516
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • characteristic
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Qualification Group and Level

  National

  HE Participation by HE qualification group and level by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 1,380
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • Entry age
    • Level
    • Qualification group
  • Time period: 2004/05 to 2021/22

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• School Type

  National

  HE participation by school type by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 504
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
    • HE Participation Rate (High Tariff)
    • Number of HE Students
  • Filters:
    • A level status
    • Entry age
    • School Type
  • Time period: 2004/05 to 2021/22

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• School Type - Gap

  National

  HE participation by school type (including participation rate gap) by age 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30

  • Number of rows: 126
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate (Independent)
    • HE Participation Rate (State)
    • High Tariff HE Participation Rate (Independent)
  • Filters:
    • A level status
    • Entry age
  • Time period: 2004/05 to 2021/22

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• Projected HE by Age 25

  National

  Projected HE Participation by age 25

  • Number of rows: 22
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
  • Filters:
    • Actual and Projection
  • Time period: 2001/02 to 2021/22

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• Projected Level 4/5 by Age 25

  National

  Projected Level 4/5 Participation by age 25

  • Number of rows: 19
  • Indicators:
    • HE Participation Rate
  • Filters:
    • Actual and Projection
  • Time period: 2004/05 to 2021/22

  Data set information page
  Create table

• Tariff Groups

  Provider

  HE providers by tariff group

  • Number of rows: 3,899
  • Indicators:
    • Mean Tariff
  • Filters:
    • Tariff Group
  • Time period: 2004/05 to 2024/25

  Data set information page
  Create table

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Data dashboards

Data dashboards provide an alternative route to explore a statistical release's data, presenting key statistics and further insights, often via graphical visualisations.

Access the interactive Widening Participation dashboard (opens in new tab) here. 

The dashboard has been developed to bring all the data in the publication together in a concise, accessible and engaging format. This replaces some of the content previously included in the main release.

The dashboard includes interactive charts and maps of participation rates by age 19 and 25 by tariff group and the full range of characteristics included in the publication. 

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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 Widening Participation in Higher Education: 2024/25 Official Statistics release’s underlying data files.

The methodology document 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 two measures of participation in Higher Education. 

The first shows HE participation by pupil and study characteristics for pupils aged 15 in English state-funded schools and special schools (including non-maintained special schools). 

The second relates to HE participation by school type for pupils aged 17 who were entered for A levels or equivalent level 3 qualifications at English schools and colleges. 

All charts and tables reference the academic year in which a cohort was aged 15 For example, a pupil aged 15 in the 2001/02 academic year (the earliest cohort) would be aged 19 in 2005/06 and 25 in 2011/12. In previous releases the academic year was based on the year that the cohort was 19. 

File formats and conventions

Rounding 

We are removing rounding and suppression of data where possible in order to maximise the utility of the statistics while minimising the risk of disclosure. 

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

External_Confidentiality_Policy (opens in new tab)

Data relating to Care Leavers, Children in Need and Looked After Children is rounded to the nearest percentage for rates and to the nearest 10 for counts of pupils given the sensitivity of these statistics. 

Conventions 

The following convention is used throughout the underlying data. 

‘x’ Not applicable

‘c’ Confidential

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Widening participation in higher education statistics and data:

Widening participation statistics

Email: HE.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: John Simes

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If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

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If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Phone: 0370 000 2288

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