Education levels in the UK

Statistics on higher education (HE) initial participation rates are published as ‘Participation rates in higher education’ and include data on 17 to 30 year old English domiciled first-time HE entrants to UK HE institutions and English, Welsh and Scottish FE colleges who remain in HE for at least 6 months.

Scottish Funding Council

The Scottish Funding Council now produces 2 measures of participation, replacing the Scottish government’s age participation index (API), a higher education initial participation rate (HEIPR) and also a young participation rate (YPR) which is a true cohort measure for 16 to 19 year olds. From 2015, the HEIPR and YPR for 2013 to 2014 are now included within the national statistics publication Higher education students and qualifiers at Scottish institutions 2013 to 2014.

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)

This report presents information about the levels of participation in HE across Wales for the academic years 2004 to 2005 to 2009 to 2010. HEFCW plans to publish an update including data for 2010 to 2011, 2011 to 2012 and 2012 to 2013 by summer 2015. Information on participation rates in HE is presented in a series of maps and charts in Section 1. The analysis is displayed by unitary authority, and the maps show how participation levels vary with age, mode of study and gender across Wales.

Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI)

The API is defined as the number of Northern Ireland domiciled young entrants (aged under 21) to full-time undergraduate higher education (in the UK or Republic of Ireland) as a percentage of the 18 year old population of Northern Ireland.