Official statistics

The Office for Students publishes three types of official statistics as defined by the Code of Practice for Statistics:

Official statistics: Statistics produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Experimental official statistics: A subset of newly developed or innovative official statistics undergoing evaluation. Experimental statistics are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in the assessment of their suitability and quality at an early stage.
Ad hoc official statistics: Statistical analyses produced and released where there is a pressing need for official statistics in the public interest.

For further information on our statistical releases, please contact Mark Gittoes, Head of Profession for Statistics, at [email protected] or 0117 931 7052.

Notes on official and experimental statistics

We apply the Code of Practice for Statistics when producing our official and experimental statistics. Further information can be found in our compliance statement.

We aim to provide specific release dates at least four weeks in advance where practicable, and release month(s) for publications in the next 12 months.

All official statistics will be released at 0930 on a weekday.

The OfS applies the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008. The organisation and job title of individuals granted pre-release access will be published on these pages. Pre-release access is limited to 24 hours before the official statistics are published.

Feedback on our experimental statistics can be sent to [email protected].

Notes on ad hoc statistics

These publications are released on an ad hoc basis and unlike our regular official statistics, will not be updated annually. Wherever possible, like our regular official statistics, these are produced using the principles set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

These reports often constitute experimental analyses for which feedback is actively encouraged. Feedback can be sent to [email protected].

Based on various factors, including feedback and data availability, these ad hoc releases may become official statistics in the future, in which case subsequent releases will be included on the official and experimental statistics schedule and the full Code of Practice for Statistics will be applied.

Last updated 01 June 2020 + show all updates

01 June 2020: Section restructure and new information about ad-hoc official statistics
26 May 2020: Note added about the release date for the annual NSS data.
22 May 2020: Date added for the release of the annual TRAC data.
20 May 2020: Date updated for the analysis of unconditional offers.
11 May 2020: Pre-release access list added for the analysis of level 6 and 7 apprenticeships.
11 May 2020: 'Annual release of TRAC data' which had been removed from the page in error, has been reinstated.
07 May 2020: List updated to reflect the release of the access and participation dataset
08 April 2020: Notice on revisions to scheduled dates in light of coronavirus and related updates to the schedule.
02 April 2020: Annual release of equality and diversity data about students moved to published statistics page. Annual update of KPMs 1-5 and 18 moved to published statistics page.
01 April 2020: Pre-release access list for Annual release of equality and diversity data about students updated. Pre-release access lists for annual release of KPMs 1 and 2, and KPMs 3-5 and 18 added.
31 March 2020: Pre-release access list for Annual release of equality and diversity data about students updated
23 March 2020: Pre-release access list published for Annual release of equality and diversity data about students
06 March 2020: Date specified for Annual release of OfS KPMs 1 and 2, Annual release of OfS KPMs 3-5 and 18 and Annual release of equality and diversity data about students
19 February 2020: Update to National Student Survey results 2019 and sector analysis of National Student Survey results 2019 moved to published statistics page
14 February 2020: Update of data analysis of unconditional offers added to May 2020
13 February 2020: Update to HESES survey data added to July 2020
12 February 2020: Student numbers 2018-19 moved to published statistics page
11 February 2020: Annual release of HESES survey data moved to published statistics page
22 January 2020: Annual release of intake numbers from medical and dental survey moved to published statistics page
21 January 2020: New entries: Update to National Student Survey results 2019 and Sector analysis of National Student Survey results 2019.
15 January 2020: Date specified for release of student numbers 2018-19
10 January 2020: Date specified for annual release of HESES survey data
19 November 2019: Added student numbers 2018-19 to February 2020

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