This article comprises two lists of institutions in the United Kingdom ranked by the number of students enrolled in higher education courses. The first list, based on data from the academic year 2024/25, breaks down student enrolment by level of study, while the second list, from academic year 2021/22, provides a total student enrolment figure without distinguishing between undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The statistics in both lists are confined to students studying within the United Kingdom and exclude those engaged in distance-learning or transnational education programs conducted overseas. For reference, in the 2022/23 academic year, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) recorded 576,705 overseas students. Universities with significant numbers of overseas students in 2018/19 included the Open University (48,805), University of London (37,850), Liverpool (22,645), Liverpool John Moores (21,780), and Coventry (21,085).[1]
The source for the figures is the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) statistics for 2024/25.[2] The student numbers include full-time and part-time, and are broken down into undergraduate and postgraduate students. Some institutes enrol students in both higher education and further education courses, so student numbers may be higher for such institutes. Numbers are of actual enrolments, not FTEs. The data show that 2.62 million people were enrolled in higher education at the 169 higher education providers reporting statistics to HESA.
The data source for these statistics is also the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the academic year 2021/22.[2] The student figures encompass both full-time and part-time students, without distinction between undergraduate and postgraduate levels of study. Some institutions enroll students in both higher education and further education programs, potentially leading to higher student numbers in such cases. It's important to note that these statistics reflect actual student enrollments and not full-time equivalent (FTE) counts. According to the latest available data from HESA, a total of 2.86 million individuals were enrolled in higher education at the various institutions reporting data to HESA for the academic year 2021/22.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_enrolment
- Official site not on record
