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This page is a short summary of the full PDF report Higher education student numbers.

Headline student numbers increased in the three decades to 2022/23, apart from a short dip related to the 2012 funding reforms. There were continued increases in entry rates for different groups of students over this period, including those from disadvantaged areas/backgrounds.

However, headline numbers tend to focus on full-time undergraduates and trends amond other groups have not been so positive. These include part-time undergraduates, mature students, some postgraduates, EU students, and some disadvantaged groups.

Overall student numbers fell by 1.3% in 2023/24 and 2024/25, the first falls for almost a decade. This was largely due to a drop in the number of overseas students on taught postgraduate courses, a partial reversal of recent sharp increases in this group.

Scope of this briefing

This briefing looks at trends in the size of the student population in the UK, changes in the overall number of entrants and for different types of students/courses and entry rates for different groups  of students and parts of the country.

The associate spreadsheet includes data from the admissions agency UCAS on full-time undergraduate entrants since 1994.

Series of charts showing i) Accepted applicants through UCAS by age, gender and domicile since 1994, ii) variations in 18 year olds entry rates by gender, ethnicity, region and free school meal eligibility, and iii) first year students in the UK broken down by level.

Sources: UCAS, End of cycle data resources 2025 (and earlier); HESA, HE student enrolments by level of study 2020/21 to 2024/25 (and earlier).

Key data on the overall student population

  • In 2024/25 there were 2.86 million students at UK higher education institutions.
  • Most full-time students are studying first degrees. There are proportionately more overseas students studying postgraduate courses.
  • Growth in the student population since 2020 has been driven by increases in overseas students on postgraduate taught courses. Over the last 15 years the number of entrants to ‘other undergraduate’ courses has fallen by almost two-thirds. The large majority on these courses are part-time UK students.

Table giving a snapshot of students at UK universities in 2024/25. There were 2.86 million students, 2.2 million from the UK, 0.7 million from overseas. 2.0 million students were on undergraduate and 0.8 million on postgraduate courses.

Source: HESA, HE student enrolments by level of study 2020/21 to 2024/25

Applicants and entrants to full-time undergraduate courses

Broad trends over the last decade

  • Applicant numbers fell by 8% in 2012 with larger falls among those who faced fees of up to £9,000. 
  • Both applicant and acceptance numbers generally increased over the rest of the 2010s and early 2020s. 
  • Applicants reached new record highs in 2020, 2021 and 2022. There was concern that limits on travel and the type of teaching possible with coronavirus restrictions would lead to a large drop in student numbers.
  • There were around 765,000 applicants for full-time undergraduate places through UCAS in 2025, up by almost 8,000 on 2024 but below the record level from 2022. Almost 578,000 of these applicants were accepted, which was a new record.

Applicant and entrance patterns since 2020

  • The number of UK applicants increased in each year from 2019 to 2022, driven by an increased number of 18 year olds in the population.
  • Brexit meant new EU students faced higher fees from 2021 and were no longer eligible for fee loans. Applications from EU students fell by 40% in 2021. The number of EU students starting full-time undergraduate courses fell by 68% between 2020 and 2024 to its lowest level since 1994.
  • The number of non-EU overseas applicants increased to record levels in each year from 2019 to 2022, despite concerns over Covid-19.
  • The number of accepted applicants through UCAS more than doubled between 1994 and 2020, but has ballen back slightly since then.

Higher education entry rates

  • The higher education entry rate among UK 18-year-olds increased from 24.7% in 2006 to 30.7% in 2015 and peaked at 38.2% in 2021. It fell back to 36.3% in 2025.
  • 49% of state school pupils from England had started higher education by age 25 in 2022/23. The rate among women was substantially higher than among men.
  • The proportion of young people from England who were eligible for free school meals (FSM) that go on to higher education doubled between 2005/06 and 2021/22. However, the gap in entry rates with other young people has grown over the last decade.
  • Just 14% of White British boys eligible for FSM had started higher education by age 19 in 2023/24. Rates were higher in all other major ethnic groups. More than half of all Black and Asian pupils eligible for FSM had started higher education by age 19 compared to 19% of White FSM eligible pupils.

Local area data

The full PDF report includes a breakdown of higher education entry rates by region and commentary on local authority level figures. The interactive map below looks at entry rates by Parliamentary Constituency using data from the UCAS Westminster Parliamentary Constituency dashboard. Further data giving local authority progression rates to higher education for England is included in the Department for Education publication Widening participation in higher education.

Estimated 18-year-old entry rate to full-time higher education

Source: UCAS, Westminster Parliamentary Constituency dashboard end of cycle 2025

Further information

This briefing replaces Entrants to higher education and HE in England from 2012: Student numbers which looked in detail at policy around student number control and focussed on annual changes in student numbers, especially in the period leading up to and just after the 2012 higher education funding reforms. 

Readers may also be interested in the following Library papers:

The Higher Education Statistics Agency publishes a wide range of open data on students. The admissions agency UCAS produces regular updates throughout the year on applicants to full-time undergraduate courses and data on the number accepted. All these are listed on its undergraduate statistics and reports page. Department for Education data on higher entry for young people from England are included in their Participation measures in higher education and Widening participation in higher education bulletins.

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