Enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions: Northern Ireland Analysis 2022/23
Date published:
The Department for the Economy has today published a statistical bulletin, which provides information on the number of NI domiciled students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the number of students enrolled at NI HEIs. This release focuses on enrolments at NI HEIs.
Enrolments at NI HEIs Key Points:
- Enrolments at NI HEIs have increased by a net 20% (11,390) over the past decade, from 56,125 in 2013/14 to 67,515 in 2022/23. Including a 4% increase on 2021/22 (64,675), enrolments have been increasing year-on-year since 2017/18 (54,020).
- Between 2021/22 and 2022/23, ‘other undergraduate’ enrolments increased by 15% (from 3,750 to 4,325) and postgraduate by 11% (from 20,085 to 22,385). Over the same period, first degree enrolments changed little (40,845 in 2021/22 compared with 40,810 in 2022/23).
- Of the 67,515 students enrolled at NI HEIs in 2022/23, 72% were from NI, 4% from GB, 4% from the Republic of Ireland, less than 1% from other EU countries and a record high of almost one-fifth (19%) from Non-EU countries. Over three-quarters (76%, 48,390) of NI domiciled students at UK HEIs were enrolled at NI HEIs, the highest proportion over the past decade.
- In 2022/23, nearly half (47%) of students at NI HEIs were studying Broad STEM related subjects, including almost a quarter (24%) on Narrow STEM related subjects.
The full publication, including associated tables and documents, is available on the DfE website.
Notes to editors:
- The statistics presented in these bulletins are based on data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the official agency for the collection of information on UK universities, which is now part of Jisc, the Designated Data Body for HE in England. HESA collects information from all publicly funded universities throughout Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and Higher Education (HE) providers in England registered with the Office for Students (OfS) in the Approved (fee cap) or Approved categories.
2. This bulletin is based on the first release of data from the newly developed HESA student data collection system delivered by their Data Futures transformation programme.
3. The HESA data presented in these bulletins relate to students at HE institutions in the UK and do not include HE students at Further Education (FE) colleges in NI or GB, or at institutions in the Republic of Ireland.
4. Higher Education students for the purpose of HESA's data collection are those students on courses for which the level of instruction is above that of Level 3 of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) National Qualifications Framework (NQF) (for example, courses at the level of Certificate of HE and above).
5. The academic year runs from 1 August to 31 July.
6. Narrow STEM includes the following subject areas: Biological and sports sciences; Psychology; Physical sciences; Mathematical sciences; Engineering and technology; Computing; and Geography, earth and environmental studies (natural sciences).
7. Broad STEM includes all those in Narrow STEM along with the following: Medicine and dentistry; Subjects allied to medicine; Veterinary sciences; Agriculture, food and related studies; and Architecture, building and planning.
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