Higher Level Learners in England
Academic year 2024/25

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 (https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels).

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 (https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/the-code-of-practice-for-statistics/) 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 (https://www.hesa.ac.uk/about/regulation/data-protection/rounding-and-suppression-anonymise-statistics).

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%.

Data files

Age

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_age.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by age group.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
age                                             |  Age
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Disability

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_disability.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by self-reported disability status.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
disability_status                               |  Disability status
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Equivalent or lower qualification

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_equivalent_or_lower_qualification.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by equivalent or lower qualification (ELQ) status. OfS-recognised HE only.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
equivalent_or_lower_qualification               |  Equivalent or lower qualification already held
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Caution should be applied when interpreting these statistics due to the high level of unknowns. To allow for comparisons across learning types, percentages are based on learners where ELQ status is known.
4. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
5. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Ethnicity

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_ethnicity.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by ethnicity.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
ethnicity_major                                 |  Ethnicity
ethnicity_minor                                 |  Ethnicity detailed
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Between 2021/22 and 2022/23, HESA reported a large increase in the amount of missing ethnicity data at English providers for students whose permanent address was in the UK. HESA used student level ethnicity data from the previous year to fill in ethnicity gaps for continuing students at providers in England and Wales. While the ethnicity reporting rate improved in the revised version of the 2022/23 HESA data used in subsequent publications from 2023/24 onwards, the same imputation methodology has been applied to the data to ensure a more robust reporting rate. Caution is still advised when making comparisons across time. 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 enrolment in the previous year.
4. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
5. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


IMD

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_imd_quintile.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile of permanent address.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
imd_quintile                                    |  IMD quintile
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Level on entry

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_level_on_entry.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by level held on entry. OfS-recognised HE only.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Local Skills Improvement Plan

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_local_skills_improvement_plan.csv
Geographic levels: Local skills improvement plan area; National
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by local skills improvement plan (LSIP) area of permanent address.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Mode

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_mode_of_study.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by mode of study.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Provider category

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_provider_category.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by provider category.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Qualification aim

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_qualification_aim.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by qualification aim.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Region

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_region.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by region of permanent address.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Sex

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_sex.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by sex.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. In 2022/23, some HE providers appeared to return 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 was not 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.
4. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
5. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Technical route

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_technical_route_subject.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2019/20 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by technical route. Excludes apprenticeships and institutional credit.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. From 2023/24, the percentage taught across each Learn Direct Classification System (LDCS) subject that a higher education student studies at further education providers has stopped being collected as part of the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). A supplementary survey to collect this information from further education providers that are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) was introduced for 2023/24. For this publication, students at further education providers with unavailable percentage taught information have had their time distributed evenly across each of their subjects. See the publication Methodology for more information.
4. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
5. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Type of learning

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_type_of_learning.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by type of learning.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Level of study

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_level_of_study.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by level of study.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Subject

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_subject_level_1_and_subject_level_2.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2019/20 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by subject area of study (Common Aggregation Hierarchy level 1 and 2).

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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

Footnotes:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. From 2023/24, the percentage taught across each Learn Direct Classification System (LDCS) subject that a higher education student studies at further education providers has stopped being collected as part of the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). A supplementary survey to collect this information from further education providers that are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) was introduced for 2023/24. For this publication, students at further education providers with unavailable percentage taught information have had their time distributed evenly across each of their subjects. See the publication Methodology for more information.
4. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
5. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Local authority

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_local_authority.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority district; National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2024/25
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by local authority district of permanent address.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.


Primary funding source

Filename: higher_level_learners_by_primary_funding_source.csv
Geographic levels: National; Regional
Time period: 2015/16 to 2022/23
Content summary: English-domiciled higher-level learners in England by primary funding source of tuition fees.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                                   |  Variable description
----------------------------------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------
broad_type_of_learning                          |  Broad type of higher learning
detailed_type_of_learning                       |  Detailed type of higher learning
level                                           |  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:

1. See the publication Methodology for explanation of differences from other official statistics on apprenticeships and higher education.
2. The “Other higher level - Unfunded” category is a lower bound estimate. 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 government-funded learners. There may also be higher level learning in the private sector that is not recorded in administrative data held by government.
3. Since 2022/23, HESA have reported a larger amount of missing permanent address information at a number of providers. 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.
4. Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup based on boundaries as of February 2024.
5. Due to data quality concerns around the field used to record a student’s majority source of tuition fee funding in the HESA Student Record, 2023/24 and 2024/25 data have not been published. A large number of students were incorrectly listed as studying on a course with no required fees.
