Methodology

Higher-level learners in England: Methodology

Published

Introduction

This document contains supporting information for the statistical release ‘Higher Education Learners in England, 2021 to 2022’, including further detail on the background of the publication, data sources, data processing and data quality of these statistics overall.

Background to the publication

This statistics publication presents an overview of participation and achievements in higher level learning at Further Education Providers (FEPs) and Higher Education Providers (HEPs) for English-domiciled learners in England in the academic year 2021/22. 

Throughout this publication, higher-level learning refers to learning at National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels 4 to 8 (opens in a new tab) . Qualifications covered are at a higher level than A levels or equivalent, and include a range of qualification aims, such as foundation degrees, first degrees and doctorates.

The statistics provide a holistic view of higher-level learning across the further and higher education sectors. All types of learning are covered, including OfS-recognised higher education (recognised by the Office for Students for funding purposes and generally eligible for student loan support), Apprenticeships (funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and employers, where students earn whilst learning) and institutional credit (bite-sized, standalone modules of learning which are not regarded as full qualifications).

The statistics show how higher-level skills provision was organised in 2021/22 and aid our understanding of the potential impacts of the government’s skills reforms. In particular, it will assist future policy understanding for Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) reform and the flexible Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE). The coverage has focused on English-domiciled learners because this is the group most likely to be impacted by the reform.

Previous research

This is the second year the Department for Education has published this holistic view of higher-level learning, encompassing NQF levels 4 to 8 and the first year they have published achievements data. 

There have been examples of research published by both the Gatsby Foundation (opens in a new tab) and the Department (opens in a new tab) that provided a full mapping of Level 4 and 5 technical education. The data in those reports referred to the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17 in each respective release.

Prior to those publications, the nearest example to this publication, which estimated the totality of higher-level learning including provision in the FE sector, was the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ research report Understanding higher education in further education colleges. (opens in a new tab)

Official statistics are published separately each year on further and higher education using the same ILR and HESA records that are the basis for ‘Higher-level learners in England’, these are:

The statistics in ‘Higher-level learners in England’ may show differing patterns to those publications. This new analysis removes some duplication from the underpinning data sources. Counts of Apprenticeships also differ slightly to those available in the publication referenced above due to the restriction of English-domiciled learners in this release.

Statistics are also published that show the student loans funding that is paid to learners in Further (opens in a new tab) and Higher (opens in a new tab) Education. Student loan counts in those publications are different to those included in this publication. More details are provided under the ‘Data quality and comparability’ section.

Data sources

The publication presents analysis of the FE and HE sectors after combining two separate data sources:

  • The Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data for FEPs, and
  • The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s (HESA) ‘Student’ and ‘Student Alternative’ records for HEPs.

HESA's ‘Student’ and ‘Student Alternative’ records

The HESA ‘Student’ and ‘Student Alternative’ records collect information on all students at higher education providers in England who follow courses that lead to the award of a qualification or provider credit. The data collections include information about students’:

  • Personal characteristics
  • Place of study
  • Courses and modules they are undertaking
  • Entry qualifications and socio-economic backgrounds

The HESA student record comes available in January after the end of each academic year. 

ESFA's Individualised Learner Record

The Individualised Learner Record (ILR) collection is based on data returns to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) from FE education colleges and training providers in England about learners in the FE system and the learning undertaken by each of them.

The ILR is a complete record of government funded learning in the further education sector. It is not mandatory for providers to return information on their unfunded learners, which means that the ILR may underestimate the true level of higher-level learning happening in the FE sector.

The ILR includes a ‘Learner HE’ entity. This must be returned for learners doing courses at NQF levels 4 to 8 at FE providers and that meet certain conditions set by the Office for Students. In this publication we refer to these learners as doing ‘OfS Registered HE’. The ‘Learner HE’ entity must be completed for all such learners doing these courses irrespective of whether they received any funding. Details of the coverage of the ‘Learner HE’ entity are available in the ILR specification (opens in a new tab).

The ILR is collected each month over each academic year. This publication is based on the final ILR collection, R14, which is compiled in the November after the end of each academic year.

Data processing

To produce these statistics, information has been standardised across both the ILR and HESA datasets. Learners can be recorded twice through both collections and duplicates have been removed.  Where there was duplication of learners across the ILR and HESA records, the HESA record was retained. The only exception to this was in the case of Apprenticeships, where the ILR record is considered to be the authoritative record of the learning.

Examples of some of the standardisation that has happened in the analysis are included below.

Counting learners

There are two population counts in this publication. The first is based on student enrolments, and the second on student achievements.

It is possible for a student to enrol on more than one course in an academic year and where this is the case the student is counted for each enrolment. 

Data that includes subject is a count of full-person equivalent (FPE). This means that where an enrolment or achievement spans multiple subjects, it is apportioned to reflect the proportion of the learner that relates to each subject (e.g. a student enrolled in a course equally distributed between engineering & technology and computer science is counted with 0.5 FPE for each subject).

Population ‘in-scope’ - Enrolments

Students in the HESA ‘Student’ and ‘Student Alternative’ records were included if they met the following criteria:

The ILR is first restricted to include only those learning aims with a notional level of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or H. All other learning aims are excluded.

Students in the ILR undertaking OfS recognised HE qualifications were included if they were part of the standard registration population and were domiciled in England prior to study.

Students undertaking other higher-level learning were included if they were domiciled in England and either of the following conditions are met:

  • The student was on an apprenticeship programme and active in the academic year.
  • The student was funded by the ESFA or via an advanced learning loan and was student active in the academic year.
  • The student was self-funded and passed the funding qualification period. The funding qualification period is 42 days for courses of duration 168 days or more, 14 days for courses with duration between 14 and 167 days, and 1 day for courses lasting fewer than 14 days.

Most of the data included in this release refers to academic year 2021/22. However, detailed time series data for academic years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 can be found in the underlying data files and figures back to 2015/16 are also available at summary level.

Population ‘in-scope’ – Qualifiers

Students in the HESA ‘Student’ and ‘Student Alternative’ records were included if they met the following criteria:

  • The student is included in the qualifications obtained population (opens in a new tab).
  • The students qualification was awarded at a Higher Education Provider based in England.
  • The student was domiciled in England prior to study.

The ILR is first restricted to include only those learning aims with a notional level of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or H. All other learning aims are excluded.

Students in the ILR undertaking OfS recognised HE qualifications were included if they met the following criteria:

  • The student completed the learning activities leading to the learning aim.
  • The learning outcome has been achieved.
  • The period/academic month of leaving is during the academic year being referred to.
  • The student was domiciled in England prior to study.

Students undertaking other higher-level learning were included if they were domiciled in England and either of the following conditions are met:

  • The student was on an apprenticeship programme and active in the academic year.
  • The student was funded by the ESFA or via an advanced learning loan and was student active in the academic year.
  • The student was self-funded and passed the funding qualification period. The funding qualification period is 42 days for courses of duration 168 days or more, 14 days for courses with duration between 14 and 167 days, and 1 day for courses lasting fewer than 14 days.

Most of the data included in this release refers to academic year 2021/22. However, detailed time series data for academic years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 can be found in the underlying data files and figures back to 2015/16 are also available at summary level.

Defining Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are counted as single programmes of learning using the programme aim information in the ILR. 

Apprenticeship programmes often include several component qualifications. The programme aim provides a summary of these components and is counted as a single enrolment. 

If an Apprentice is studying a component of their programme at a higher education provider, for example a first degree, then they may appear in both the ILR and HESA records. In this situation the ILR information for the overall Apprenticeship programme takes precedence.

Defining OfS-Recognised HE

Qualifications that are classed as Recognised HE for Office for Students (OfS) funding purposes. Such qualifications are generally eligible for student loan support, such as foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates (HNCs)s and first degrees. Further information can be found in Annex B of the Higher Education Students Early Statistics survey 2021-22 (HESES21): Guidance for providers - Office for Students (opens in a new tab).

Defining Institutional credit in Higher Education Providers (HEPs)

Learning in HEPs identified as bite-sized, standalone modules of study covers a wide range of short-term learning; examples include Continuing Professional Development (CPD) learning for healthcare professionals, such as Advanced Skills in Clinical Assessment at Anglia Ruskin University (opens in a new tab), or standalone languages modules like those taken in King’s College London Modern Language Centre (opens in a new tab). These are not regarded as full qualifications.

Institutional credit has been defined as COURSEAIM (opens in a new tab) codes 'D90', 'E90', 'L90', 'L91', 'M90', 'M91','H90', 'H91', 'I90', 'I91', 'J90', 'C90' in the HESA 'Student' and 'Student Alternative' records. 

Defining other higher level learning

Other HE is defined as learning at levels 4 to 8 outside of OfS-recognised HE, apprenticeships and institutional credit in HEPS. These courses are generally not eligible for student loan support, but could be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs). In addition, some students aged 16-18 on approved courses regulated by Ofqual can be funded by the ESFA. Full details of the funding rules can be found here (opens in a new tab)

In the ILR, it is not mandatory for providers to return information on their unfunded learners, which means that data reported under this category is likely to be an underestimate.

Defining level of study

NQF level is derived differently for HESA and ILR records. In the HESA student records, level is based on the course aim (opens in a new tab) associated with the enrolment. The mapping of course aim to level is outlined in Table 1

Table 1: mapping of course aim to qualification level

Qualification levelCourse aims
Level 4C13, C20, C30, C80, C90, C99, C42, C41, C43, C77, C78
Level 5J20, J26, J10, J16, J30, J80, J90, J99, I60, I61, I70, I71, I72, I73, I76, I78, I80, I81, I90, I91, I99, J42, I74, J41, I79, J43, J45, J76
Level 6H00, H11, H12, H13, H16, H18, H22, H23, H50, H71, H60, H61, H62, H79, H70, H72, H76, H78, H80, H81, H88, H90, H91, H99, H42, H41, H43, I00, I11, I12, I16 
Level 7L00, L80, L90, L91, L99, M00, M01, M02, M10, M11, M16, M40, M41, M42, M43, M44, M45, M50, M70, M71, M72, M73, M76, M78, M79, M80, M86, M88, M90, M91, M99, M22, M26, M28
Level 8D00, D01,D90, E00 , E40, E43, E90

The ILR includes information on the qualification level of learning aims. This information is taken directly from the learning aims reference service (opens in a new tab).

Defining provider type

Provider type refers to the provider the learner is registered with. This is not necessarily the provider where the learning is taking place. For example, if a franchising arrangement existed between a HEP (registering provider) and a further education college (delivering the learning), the learner is reported under the HEP provider type. DfE estimates that in 2018/19, 21,000 higher-level entrants who were registered in HEPs were taught at a franchise partner which was not a HEP.

Defining subject area

Subject area has been categorised using the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (opens in a new tab).

The ILR does not use CAH 1.3.4 to categorise learning aims into subject areas. ILR records have been mapped to CAH 1.3.4 using two methods:

  • OfS-recognised HE qualifications include LearnDirect Classification System (LDCS) subject codes. Where these were available, LDCS codes were mapped to CAH 1.3.4 using a LDCS lookup (opens in a new tab) published by OfS and a CAH 1.3.4 lookup (opens in a new tab) published by HESA.
  • For all other ILR records, the sector subject areas (SSAs) recorded for each learning aim were mapped to CAH using the mapping in the Table 2. The preparation for life and work SSA is retained as a separate category in the subject classification as there are no equivalent subject codes in the CAH system.

Learning captured in the HESA student record is recorded using the CAH 1.3.4 system.

Table 2: mapping sector subject area tier 2 to common aggregation hierarchy (CAH), level 2

Common aggregation hierarchy (CAH), level 2Subject sector area Tier 2
CAH01-01 Medicine and dentistry1.1 Medicine and Dentistry
CAH02-06 Allied health1.2 Nursing and Subjects and Vocations Allied to Medicine
CAH15-04 Health and social care1.3 Health and Social Care
CAH23-01 Combined and general studies1.4 Public Services
CAH15-04 Health and social care1.5 Child Development and Well Being
CAH07-04 General, applied and forensic sciences2.1 Science
CAH09-01 Mathematical sciences2.2 Mathematics and Statistics
CAH06-01 Agriculture, food and related studies3.1 Agriculture
CAH06-01 Agriculture, food and related studies3.2 Horticulture and Forestry
CAH06-01 Agriculture, food and related studies3.3 Animal Care and Veterinary Science
CAH26-01 Geography, earth and environmental studies3.4 Environmental Conservation
CAH10-01 Engineering4 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies
CAH10-01 Engineering4.1 Engineering
CAH10-01 Engineering4.2 Manufacturing Technologies
CAH10-01 Engineering4.3 Transportation Operations and Maintenance
CAH13-01 Architecture, building and planning5 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment
CAH13-01 Architecture, building and planning5.1 Architecture
CAH13-01 Architecture, building and planning5.2 Building and Construction
CAH13-01 Architecture, building and planning5.3 Urban, Rural and Regional Planning
CAH11-01 Computing6 Information and Communication Technology
CAH11-01 Computing6.1 ICT Practitioners
CAH11-01 Computing6.2 ICT for Users
CAH17-01 Business and management7 Retail and Commercial Enterprise
CAH17-01 Business and management7.1 Retailing and Wholesaling
CAH17-01 Business and management7.2 Warehousing and Distribution
CAH17-01 Business and management7.3 Service Enterprises
CAH17-01 Business and management7.4 Hospitality and Catering
CAH03-02 Sport and exercise sciences8.1 Sport, Leisure and Recreation
CAH17-01 Business and management8.2 Travel and Tourism
CAH25-02 Performing arts9.1 Performing Arts
CAH25-01 Creative arts and design9.2 Crafts, Creative Arts and Design
CAH24-01 Media, journalism and communications9.3 Media and Communication
CAH24-01 Media, journalism and communications9.4 Publishing and Information Services
CAH20-01 History and archaeology10.1 History
CAH20-01 History and archaeology10.2 Archaeology and Archaeological Sciences
CAH20-02 Philosophy and religious studies10.3 Philosophy
CAH20-02 Philosophy and religious studies10.4 Theology and Religious Studies
CAH26-01 Geography, earth and environmental studies11.1 Geography
CAH15-01 Sociology, social policy and anthropology11.2 Sociology and Social Policy
CAH15-03 Politics11.3 Politics
CAH15-02 Economics11.4 Economics
CAH15-01 Sociology, social policy and anthropology11.5 Anthropology
CAH19-01 English studies12.1 Languages, Literature and Culture of the British Isles
CAH19-04 Languages and area studies 12.2 Other Languages, Literature and Culture
CAH19-01 English studies12.3 Linguistics
CAH22-01 Education and teaching13 Education and Training
CAH22-01 Education and teaching13.1 Teaching and Lecturing
CAH22-01 Education and teaching13.2 Direct Learning Support
CAH23-01 Combined and general studies14 Preparation for Life and Work
CAH23-01 Combined and general studies14.1 Foundations for Learning and Life
CAH23-01 Combined and general studies14.2 Preparation for Work
CAH17-01 Business and management15.1 Accounting and Finance
CAH17-01 Business and management15.2 Administration
CAH17-01 Business and management15.3 Business Management
CAH17-01 Business and management15.4 Marketing and Sales
CAH16-01 Law15.5 Law and Legal Services

Defining technical routes

The CAH and SSA subject classification systems are mapped to technical routes using the information in Table 3 and 4.

The technical route mapping has been created internally within DfE. 

Table 3: mapping CAH Level 3 to technical route

Table 3 can be found in the supporting files section of this release. It can also be accessed using this link.

Table 4: mapping sector subject area tier 2 principle subject to technical route

Technical routeSector subject area tier 2
Agriculture, Environmental and Animal Care3.1 Agriculture
3.2 Horticulture and forestry
3.3 Animal care and veterinary science
3.4 Environmental conservation 
3.9 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care
Business and Administrative15.2 Administration
15.3 Business management
Care services1.3 Health and social care
Catering and Hospitality7.4 Hospitality and catering
Construction and the built environment5.1 Architecture
5.2 Building and construction 
5.3 Urban, rural and regional planning
5.9 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment
Creative and Design9.2 Crafts, creative arts and design
9.3 Media and communication
9.4 Publishing and information services
Digital6.1 ICT practitioners 
Education and childcare1.5 Child development and well being
13.1 Teaching and lecturing
13.2 Direct learning support
13.9 Education and Training
Engineering and Manufacturing4.1 Engineering 
4.2 Manufacturing technologies
4.2 Manufacturing technologies 
4.3 Transportation operations and maintenance
4.9 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies 
Hair and Beauty7.3 Service enterprises 
Health and Science1.1 Medicine and dentistry
1.2 Nursing, and subjects and vocations allied to medicine
2.1 Science
Legal, Finance and Accounting15.1 Accounting and finance
15.5 Law and legal services
Protective Services1.4 Public services 
Sales, Marketing and Procurement15.4 Marketing and sales
Transport and Logistics7.2 Warehousing and distribution 

Removing duplication between the ILR and HESA records

It is necessary to clean the data to remove duplicate records. These duplicates can exist in the ILR on occasion when a FE provider reports on learners who have been sub-contracted-in from another provider (the ‘registering provider’). A duplicate record is defined as a pair of records split across the ILR and HESA record with matching:

  • Person Identifiers (PIDs) provided by OfS
  • Year of study
  • Provider
  • Level of study
  • Qualification aim
  • Entrant/ continuing status

Where duplicate records were identified after combining the ILR and HESA data, the HESA record was retained. The only exception to this was in the case of Apprenticeships, where the ILR programme aim is considered to be the authoritative record of the learning.

 

Data quality and comparability

The levels of missing data vary across the different higher-level learning types. This means that data on learner characteristics in this publication are likely to be more meaningful when making comparisons between learning types, than after these have been aggregated up to make estimates of the learner characteristics profile for all higher-level learning. 

In addition, due to the different data collection systems used to produce this release, there are some differences in the coding frames for certain variables that could have a slight impact on comparability of statistics on student characteristics across higher-level learning types.

Examples are given below of missing data and where comparability of statistics may be impacted.

Funding source of tuition fees 

Some learners in the HESA and ILR data are recorded as having an unknown funding source and this occurs more often at different levels of learning. In 2021/22, 3.0% (31,355) of higher-level entrants were recorded as having an unknown funding source. However, 9.9% (13,575) of level 4 and 5 entrants had an unknown funding source, compared to 1.0% (4,790) for level 6. These differences are due to FEPs being more likely to report incomplete data on funding source to the ILR. To allow for meaningful comparisons across learning types, percentages are based on learners where funding source is known. 

Estimates of the proportion of learners with tuition fees primarily funded by SLC in this release are lower than those published by the Student Loans Company (opens in a new tab); this is because our denominator includes learners who may not have met the eligibility criteria (opens in a new tab) for a student loan. In addition,  counts of learners funding their tuition with student loans and Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) differ slightly to those published by the Student Loans Company (SLC) (opens in a new tab), because:

  • Data shown here refers to the primary source of tuition fee, whereas SLC data refers to loan funded students who could take out any size of loan.
  • The SLC data is an administrative data collection and so has slightly different coverage and collection methodology compared to that recorded by providers in the ILR and HESA.

A small minority of ‘other higher-level learners’ have student loans reported as their primary source of tuition fee, which we believe is due to recording errors in the HESA and ILR data collection processes.

Age 

Age refers to the learner’s age at the start of the academic year. A very small number of learners (75 entrants) had unknown age. Percentages are based on learners where age is known. 

Sex 

The number of entrants with unknown sex has been suppressed, in line with the rounding methodology the number of entrants with unknown sex could take an unrounded value of 0, 1 or 2. Percentages are based on learners where sex is known.  ‘Other’ sex can be recorded in the HESA record, but is not collected in the ILR. 

To align with HESA and the ILR, this publication refers to the legal sex of the learner, as opposed to the gender in which they identify. 

Ethnicity

Some learners are recorded as having unknown ethnicity, and this occurs more often for certain types of learning. In 2021/22, 2.0% (17,265) of learners entering all types of higher-level study were recorded as having unknown ethnicity. However, 1.9% (1,945) of apprenticeship starts had unknown ethnicity compared to 2.0% (13,330) for recognised HE. To allow for meaningful conclusions across learning types, percentages are based on learners where ethnicity is known.

Disability

Disability is based on the learners own self-assessment and includes those with learning difficulties. There are differences in the coding frameworks for disability in ILR (opens in a new tab) and HESA (opens in a new tab) records which may have a slight impact on comparability across the types of higher-level learning.

Region of domicile and Index of Multiple Deprivation

Region of domicile and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile have been derived from the location of the learner’s permanent home address before starting their course. A very small proportion of learners (3,625 entrants) had unknown domicile. Percentages are based on learners where domicile is known.  

Equivalent or Lower Qualification (ELQ) status

Access to student finance can be impacted by whether the relevant course is at the same or below the level of an award the learner already holds. This is determined by the Equivalent or Lower Qualification (ELQ) status.  This information has been derived for OfS-recognised HE learners only. Prior qualifications are less well recorded on entry to other learning types.

Some learners are recorded as having unknown qualification on entry, and this occurs more often at different levels of learning. In 2021/22, 7.8% of OfS-recognised HE entrants were recorded as having an unknown ELQ status. However, 11.3% of level 4 and 5 entrants had an unknown ELQ status compared to 10.1% for level 6. These differences are due to FEPs being more likely to report incomplete entry qualification data to the ILR. To allow for meaningful comparisons across learning types, percentages are based on learners where ELQ status is known. Caution should be applied when interpreting these statistics due to the high level of unknowns. 

Distance learning

Distance learning is defined as where provision is delivered away from a learning centre, for example: e-learning.

Disclosure control

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%. 

Help and support

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.uk
Contact name: Matthew Bollington
Telephone: 07795 044323

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