Participation in Higher Education (HE) at Scottish Institutions 2007-08
September 30, 2009
Summary of Key Findings:- Since 2006-07, the number of students in Scottish higher education fell by 6,935 (2.5 per cent) to 272,625.
- There were 209,170 Scottish domiciled students in higher education in 2007-08, 76.7 per cent of the total
- Entrant numbers fell by 3.5 per cent (4,965) in 2007-08 to 137,495
- The proportion of entrants from the most deprived areas of Scotland improved slightly, with those from the 20 per cent most deprived areas now under-represented by 4.3 per cent
- Overseas student numbers remained relatively stable at 35,165. India is now the largest foreign contributor to HE student numbers in Scotland at 3,815, overtaking China at 3,765
The Age Participation Index (API) measures the number of young (under 21) Scottish entrants to HE, minus those that already have an HE qualification (such as an HNC or degree), divided by the number of 17 year-olds in Scotland. The API fell by 2.9 per cent to 43.2 per cent in 2007-08, driven mostly by a decline in the participation of young female students
This release contains updates of the figures in the Students in Higher Education in Scotland, 2006-07 publication, published on March 18, 2008. The publication and this release contain information on HE provision in higher education institutions (HEIs) as well as Scotland's colleges.
This is the first year that data have been published according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency's (HESA's) standard registration population definition of student, for more information on this change please see the methodological note in the publication. The time-series presented here have been revised to allow comparisons between years. Data in this publication are not comparable to previous publications in this series and this release should be considered to supersede previous releases.
These statistics are collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) from Further Education Colleges (Colleges). Higher Education courses are defined as those at HND/HNC level and above.
The API measures the number of young (under 21) Scottish entrants to Higher Education, minus those that already have an HE qualification (such as an HNC or degree), divided by the number of 17 year-olds in Scotland.