Office for Students

Findings from the data

We have summarised the key gaps in access, continuation, completion, degree outcomes (attainment) and progression at a sector level for different student characteristics.

These measures are all reported using data available from the access and participation dataset (as at March 2023).

You can read the full report below, or see a summary of the key findings.

2023 summary findings report
PDF, 3116Kb
This document summarises key findings in access, continuation, completion, degree outcomes (attainment) and progression at a sector level.
2023 supplementary tables
XLSX, 74Kb
This spreadsheet shows the data that was used to create the tables in our summary findings report

Summary of the key findings

Access to higher education

These measures show the make-up of students entering higher education.

There has been a significant difference between the proportion of entrants from ABCS access quintile 1 and quintile 5 across the last six years. The difference in proportion increased over time, from 24.0 percentage points for 2016-17 entrants to 27.8 percentage points for 2021-22 entrants. This is due to an increase in the proportion of students from ABCS quintile 5 across the time-series, as well as a decrease in the proportion from quintile 1.

Sector level time series showing the difference between the proportion of entrants from ABCS access quintile 5 and quintile 1

This graph has two lines, one for ABCS access quintile 1 entrants and one for ABCS access quintile 5. It shows the proportion of entrants from each quintile group across the last six years and the gap between them. The upper line is for ABCS access quintile 5 entrants, which starts at 31.9 per cent in 2016-17 and rises to 34.9 per cent in 2021-22. The lower line is for ABCS access quintile 1, which starts at 7.9 per cent in 2016-17 and falls slightly to 7.1 per cent in 2021-22. The gap gradually widens across the years, starting at 24.0 percentage points in 2016-17 and increasing to 27.8 percentage points in 2021-22.

Characteristic

Category

Proportion of students entering full-time study 2021-22 (%)

Proportion of students entering part-time study 2021-22 (%)

Proportion of entrants studying as part of an apprenticeship 2021-22 (%)

ABCS Access

Quintile 5*

34.9

16.3

25.3

 

Quintile 1

7.1

14.2

6.7

Age

Young

71.0

12.1

27.1

 

Mature

29

87.9

72.9

Disability

No disability reported

82.6

80.3

87.2

 

Disability reported

17.4

19.7

12.8

Disability type

No disability reported

82.6

80.4

87.3

 

Cognitive or learning difficulties

5.7

4.6

6.2

 

Mental health condition

5.0

5.3

1.8

 

Multiple or other impairments

3.2

5.9

1.9

 

Sensory, medical or physical impairments

2.3

2.8

2.3

 

Social or communication impairment

1.2

0.9

0.6

Ethnicity

White

65.2

85.3

83.1

 

Asian

15.7

5.4

7.5

 

Black

10.5

4.8

5.2

 

Mixed

5.6

3.3

3.2

 

Other

3.0

1.1

1.1

FSM

Not eligible for free school meals

81.6

80.2

90.5

 

Eligible for free school meals

18.4

19.8

9.5

IMD

Quintile 5 *

19.6

17.7

21.0

 

Quintile 1

22.8

20.5

17.1

POLAR4

Quintile 5 *

30.3

19.4

26.0

 

Quintile 1

12.5

19.1

12.0

Sex

Male

43.2

37.8

43.1

 

Female

56.8

62.2

56.9

TUNDRA

Quintile 5*

30.2

16.8

24.0

 

Quintile 1

12.3

20.3

12.6

Go back to the data dashboard

Explore the data in the access and participation data dashboard

Related links

Continuation

These measures show whether or not students continue their studies.

There was a significant gap in full time continuation indicators between young (under 21) and mature (21 and over) students over the last six years. For entrants in 2020-21, the gap was 9.8 percentage points, up from 7.0 percentage points for 2015-16 entrants. Both groups had a reduction in continuation indicators in the most recent year, but this decrease was larger for mature entrants.

Sector-level time series of gaps in full-time continuation rates between young and mature students

This graph has two lines, one for young entrants (under 21 years of age) and one for mature entrants (21 years of age or over). It shows the continuation indicators for the full-time undergraduate entrants in each of these two groups for each year. The bottom line is for mature entrants. It starts at 85.1 per cent in 2015-16, dips to 83.9 per cent in 2017-18, increases again until 2019-20 then falls significantly to 82.0 per cent in 2020-21. The top line is for young entrants. It starts at 92.1 per cent in 2015-16, increases to 93.4 per cent in 2019-20 then falls to 91.9 per cent in 2020-21. The gaps that exist between these two lines gradually increase. For entrants in 2015-16 the gap is 7.0 percentage points and for entrants in 2020-21 the gap is 9.8 percentage points.

Characteristic 

Category 

Full-time continuation indicator (pp) 

Full-time continuation gap (pp) 

Part-time continuation indicator (%) 

Part-time continuation gap (pp) 

Apprenticeship continuation indicator (%) 

Apprenticeship continuation gap (pp) 

ABCS Continuation 

Quintile 5* 

95.0 

N/A 

80.1 

N/A 

92.9 

N/A 

 

Quintile 1 

80.2 

14.8 

54.0 

26.1 

86.4 

6.5 

Age 

Young * 

91.9 

N/A  

69.5 

N/A 

92.6 

N/A 

 

Mature 

82.0 

9.8 

63.9 

5.6 

87.2 

5.3 

Disability 

No disability reported * 

89.0 

N/A  

65.8 

N/A 

88.6 

N/A 

 

Disability reported 

88.8 

0.2 

59.6 

6.2 

86.8 

1.8 

Disability type 

No disability reported * 

89.0 

N/A  

65.8 

N/A 

88.6 

N/A 

  

Cognitive or learning difficulties 

91.2 

-2.2 

64.6 

1.2 

88.0 

0.7 

  

Mental health condition 

87.0 

2.0 

55.9 

9.9 

81.7 

7.0 

  

Multiple or other impairments 

88.5 

0.5 

57.6 

8.2 

88.6 

0.0 

  

Sensory, medical or physical impairments 

88.2 

0.7 

63.2 

2.6 

87.9 

0.8 

  

Social or communication impairment 

86.9 

2.1 

60.5 

5.3 

77.1 

11.5 

Ethnicity 

White * 

90.1 

N/A  

65.2 

N/A 

88.7 

N/A 

  

Asian 

88.7 

1.4 

65.8 

-0.6 

86.5 

2.2 

  

Black 

84.3 

5.8 

56.4 

8.8 

89.1 

-0.4 

  

Mixed 

87.0 

2.2 

61.2 

3.9 

86.5 

2.2 

  

Other 

86.5 

3.6 

64.3 

0.9 

86.7 

2.0 

FSM 

Not eligible for free school meals* 

92.6 

N/A 

75.0 

N/A 

93.3 

N/A 

 

Eligible for free school meals 

87.3 

5.2 

55.0 

20.0 

88.1 

5.2 

IMD 

Quintile 5 * 

93.4 

N/A  

71.4 

N/A  

90.3 

N/A 

  

Quintile 1 

84.4 

9.1 

59.2 

12.2 

87.0 

3.3 

POLAR4 

Quintile 5 * 

94.1 

N/A  

73.2 

N/A  

93.7 

N/A 

  

Quintile 1 

89.0 

5.1 

63.5 

9.7 

90.6 

3.1 

Sex 

Male * 

86.9 

N/A  

65.4 

N/A  

89.0 

N/A 

  

Female 

90.5 

-3.6 

64.2 

1.2 

88.0 

1.0 

TUNDRA 

Quintile 5* 

93.0 

N/A 

75.2 

N/A 

93.9 

N/A 

 

Quintile 1 

89.3 

3.7 

64.5 

10.7 

90.9 

3.0 

Completion

These measures examine the proportions of students who complete their studies.

There was a significant difference in full-time completion indicators between ABCS completion quintile 5 and quintile 1 across the last six years. For entrants in 2017-18, the gap was 23.5 percentage points, up from 21.1 percentage points for entrants in 2012-13. Whilst the completion indicator for ABCS completion quintile 5 was relatively stable over the time series, the indicator for ABCS quintile 1 decreased steadily, causing a widening of the gap.

Gaps in full-time completion indicators between ABCS completion quintile 1 and quintile 5

Gaps in full-time completion indicators between ABCS completion quintile 1 and quintile 5. This graph has two lines, one ABCS completion quintile 1 entrants and one for ABCS completion quintile 5. It shows the completion indicators for each quintile group across the last six years and the gap between them. The upper line is for ABCS completion quintile 5 entrants, which remains quite flat. It starts at 96.2 per cent in 2012-13 and stands at 95.9 per cent in 2017-18. The lower line is for ABCS completion quintile 1, which starts at 75.1 per cent in 2012-13 and falls slightly to 72.4 per cent in 2017-18. The gap gradually widens across the years, starting at 21.1 percentage points in 2012-13 and increasing to 23.5 percentage points in 2017-18.

Characteristic

Category

Full-time completion indicator (%)

Full-time completion gap (pp)

Part-time completion indicator (%)

Part-time completion gap (pp)

Apprenticeship completion indicator (%)

Apprenticeship completion gap (%)

ABCS completion

Quintile 5*

95.9

N/A

79.5

N/A

94.7

N/A

 

Quintile 1

72.4

23.5

38.2

41.2

72.0

22.8

Age

Young *

89.7

N/A

70.3

N/A

88.4

N/A

 

Mature

79.5

10.2

55.8

14.5

75.4

13.0

Disability

No disability reported *

87.6

N/A

58.8

N/A

79.2

N/A

 

Disability reported

85.5

2.1

47.3

11.5

76.6

2.7

Disability type

No disability reported *

87.5

N/A

58.9

N/A

79.1

N/A

 

Cognitive or learning difficulties

88.4

-0.9

57.7

1.2

80.8

-1.7

 

Mental health condition

82.2

5.3

37.9

20.9

66.7

12.4

 

Multiple or other impairments

85.2

2.4

36.7

22.1

79.8

-0.7

 

Sensory, medical or physical impairments

85.0

2.6

53.4

5.4

76.3

2.8

 

Social or communication impairment

83.3

4.2

50.5

8.4

78.6

0.5

Ethnicity

White *

88.5

N/A

58.5

N/A

79.0

N/A

 

Asian

87.0

1.5

55.1

3.3

80.8

-1.7

 

Black

80.7

7.8

50.3

8.1

73.7

5.4

 

Mixed

85.6

2.9

51.6

6.9

81.1

-2.1

 

Other

84.0

4.4

57.7

0.8

75.0

4.0

FSM

Not eligible for free school meals*

90.8

N/A

75.3

N/A

89.6

N/A

 

Eligible for free school meals

82.5

8.2

56.9

18.4

78.8

10.8

IMD

Quintile 5 *

92.2

N/A

63.5

N/A

82.2

N/A

 

Quintile 1

81.6

10.7

54.8

8.7

77.0

5.2

POLAR4

Quintile 5 *

92.6

N/A

72.3

N/A

91.6

N/A

 

Quintile 1

85.9

6.7

67.6

4.8

86.5

5.1

Sex

Male *

84.1

N/A

59.1

N/A

79.4

N/A

 

Female

89.7

-5.7

56.3

2.8

78.6

0.8

TUNDRA

Quintile 5*

91.3

N/A

72.8

N/A

90.7

N/A

 

Quintile 1

86.5

4.9

69.2

3.6

85.5

5.3

Degree outcomes (attainment)

These measures examine the proportion of level 6+ undergraduate qualifiers awarded 1st or 2:1 degrees.

The attainment indicators for full-time black students were consistently much lower than for full-time white students across the six-year time series. This gap increased to 20.0 percentage points in 2021-22. The attainment indicators dropped for both groups, but the larger decrease for black students had the effect of increasing the gap. 

Sector-level time series of gaps in full-time attainment rates between white and black students

This graph has two lines, one for white students and one for black students. It shows the proportion of qualifiers in these groups that achieve a first or upper second class degree across the last six years and the gaps between them. The upper line is for white students and the lower line is for black students and they follow broadly the same pattern. They both increase gradually between 2016-17 and 2018-19. They then both increase significantly between 2018-19 and 2019-20, more so for black students. Then between the last 2 years they decrease, for the first time across the time series. In 2020-21 the indicator for white students is 86.3 per cent and it falls to 83.2 per cent in 2021-22. For black students it falls from 68.0 per cent in 2020-21 to 63.1 per cent in 2021-22. The gap gradually narrows across all years from 2016-17, where it is 24.3 percentage points, to 18.3 percentage points in 2020-21. In 2021-22 it widens again to 20.0 percentage points.

Characteristic

Category

Full-time
degree outcome
indicator (%)

Full-time
degree outcome
gap (pp)

Part-time
degree outcome
indicator (%)

Part-time
degree outcome
gap (pp)

Apprenticeship
degree outcome
indicator (%)

Apprenticeship
degree outcome
gap (pp)

Age

Young *

80.9

N/A

71.6

N/A

91.9

N/A

 

Mature

71.5

9.4

70.4

1.2

88.2

3.7

Disability

No disability reported *

78.9

N/A

71.3

N/A

89.9

N/A

 

Disability reported

79.4

-0.5

67.3

4.0

85.2

4.6

Disability type

No disability reported *

78.9

N/A

71.3

N/A

89.9

N/A

 

Cognitive or learning difficulties

78.6

0.3

65.2

6.1

82.5

7.4

 

Mental health condition

81.0

-2.1

70.0

1.3

81.9

8.0

 

Multiple or other impairments

79.1

-0.2

65.3

6.0

91.1

-1.2

 

Sensory, medical or physical impairments

79.8

-0.9

70.5

0.8

89.5

0.4

 

Social or communication impairment

74.5

4.4

71.6

-0.3

[low]

[low]

Ethnicity

White *

83.2

N/A

73.7

N/A

90.0

N/A

 

Asian

74.8

8.4

58.1

15.5

88.6

1.4

 

Black

63.1

20.0

46.2

27.5

73.0

17

 

Mixed

79.7

3.4

67.2

6.5

88.5

1.5

 

Other

72.6

10.6

59.4

14.3

[DP]

[DP]

FSM

Not eligible for free school meals *

82.1

N/A

75.7

N/A

92.2

N/A

 

Eligible for free school meals

69.7

12.3

56.7

19.0

92.9

-0.6

IMD

Quintile 5 *

86.3

N/A

76.8

N/A

92.9

N/A

 

Quintile 1

68.5

17.8

61.2

15.6

85.4

7.5

POLAR4

Quintile 5 *

85.3

N/A

73.3

N/A

91.4

N/A

 

Quintile 1

75.0

10.3

64.1

9.2

89.9

1.4

Sex

Male *

76.9

N/A

73.4

N/A

90.9

N/A

 

Female

80.5

-3.6

68.6

4.8

87.5

3.4

TUNDRA

Quintile 5*

82.7

N/A

76.3

N/A

90.8

N/A

 

Quintile 1

76.3

6.4

67.5

8.8

89.5

1.3

Progression

These measure report the proportion of students that progressed to professional or managerial employment, further study, or other positive outcomes, 15 months after gaining their qualification.

Progression indicators were consistently lower for students from IMD quintile 1 than for students from IMD quintile 5. The full-time progression indicators for both IMD quintile 1 and quintile 5 qualifiers increased in 2019-20, but the larger increase for qualifiers from quintile 5 caused a widening of the gap.

Gaps in full-time progression indicators between students from IMD quintile 1 and IMD quintile 5

This graph has two lines, one for IMD quintile 1 qualifiers and one for IMD quintile 5. It shows the progression indicators for each group across the last three years and the gap between them. The upper line is for IMD quintile 5, which starts at 77.4 per cent in 2017-18, drops to 74.3 per cent in 2018-19 and then increases to 76.8 per cent in 2019-20. The lower line is for IMD quintile 1, which starts at 67.1 per cent in 2017-18, drops to 64.7 per cent in 2018-19 and then increases to 66.2 per cent in 2019-20. The gap is 10.2 percentage points in 2017-18, narrows slightly to 9.7 percentage points in 2018-19 and then widens in 2019-20 to 10.6 percentage points.

Characteristic

Category

Full-time progression indicator (%)

Full-time progression gap (pp)

Part-time progression indicator (%)

Part-time progression gap (pp)

Apprenticeship progression indicator (%)

Apprenticeship progression gap (pp)

ABCS Progression

Quintile 5*

82.7

N/A

85.6

N/A

89.0

N/A

 

Quintile 1

60.9

21.9

77.7

7.9

85.5

3.5

Age

Young *

72.3

N/A

77.2

N/A

89.6

N/A

 

Mature

72.3

0.0

82.8

-5.6

89.4

0.2

Disability

No disability reported *

72.6

N/A

82.4

N/A

89.5

N/A

 

Disability reported

70.9

1.7

79.4

3.0

88.9

0.6

Disability type

No disability reported *

72.6

N/A

82.4

N/A

89.5

N/A

 

Cognitive or learning difficulties

74.4

-1.8

81.7

0.7

88.3

1.2

 

Mental health condition

68.4

4.2

73.9

8.5

88.0

1.5

 

Multiple or other impairments

70.2

2.3

80.3

2.1

84.9

4.6

 

Sensory, medical or physical impairments

71.3

1.3

79.5

2.9

91.4

-1.9

 

Social or communication impairment

59.8

12.8

75.0

7.4

[low]

[low]

Ethnicity

White *

73.2

N/A

82.8

N/A

89.1

N/A

 

Asian

69.4

3.8

77.5

5.3

87.4

1.7

 

Black

68.7

4.5

75.9

6.9

93.3

-4.3

 

Mixed

73.0

0.2

80.8

2.0

94.2

-5.2

 

Other

69.3

3.9

79.3

3.5

[low]

[low]

FSM

Not eligible for free school meals*

71.9

N/A

77.9

N/A

89.8

N/A

 

Eligible for free school meals

65.2

6.7

67.5

10.5

87.3

2.5

IMD

Quintile 5 *

76.8

N/A

84.7

N/A

89.0

N/A

 

Quintile 1

66.2

10.6

77.2

7.5

90.0

-1.0

POLAR4

Quintile 5 *

76.1

N/A

80.0

N/A

95.1

N/A

 

Quintile 1

67.3

8.8

70.6

9.4

81.5

13.6

Sex

Male *

72.8

N/A

82.4

N/A

87.4

N/A

 

Female

71.9

1.0

81.7

0.7

91.0

-3.5

TUNDRA

Quintile 5*

74.6

N/A

78.3

N/A

93.9

N/A

 

Quintile 1

67.5

7.1

74.2

4.0

85.5

8.5

Archive reports

For key findings from previous years, download reports from our archives.

2022 summary findings report
PDF, 2750Kb
Read the 2022 summary
2021 summary findings report
PDF, 6138Kb
Read the 2021 summary
2020 summary findings report
PDF, 1714Kb
Read the 2020 summary
Published 07 May 2020
Last updated 28 March 2023
28 March 2023
Published March 2023 sector summary.
31 August 2022
Minor corrections to a heading in Table 2 of the 2022 summary findings report, and headings in tab 6 'Continuation Time Series' of the 2022 supplementary tables spreadsheet
24 March 2022
Updated with annual release of data
11 March 2021
Updated with annual release of data
Help us improve your experience

Describe your experience of using this website

Improve experience feedback
* *

Thank you for your feedback