The latest available information is shown in the following table. Figures for 2006/07 will be available in January 2008.
Academic year Number of entrants 2001/02 1,090 2002/03 1,100 2003/04 1,215 2004/05 1,200 2005/06 1,285 1 Covers students on full-time and part-time modes of study. Note: Figures are on a HESA standard registration population basis and are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
The main measure for tracking progress on increasing participation is currently the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR). This is the sum of the HE initial participation rates for individual ages between 17 and 30 inclusive. It covers English-domiciled first-time entrants to HE courses, which are expected to last for at least six months, at UK higher education institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh further education colleges, and who remain on their course for at least six months. The initial participation rates for 18 to 21-year-olds can be derived from the HEIPR and the figures are shown in the following table:
18 to 21-year-old initial participation rate (percentage) 1999/2000 32 (32.4) 2000/01 33 (33.0) 2001/02 34 (33.6) 2002/03 34 (33.8) 2003/04 33 (32.9) 2004/05 33 (33.3) 2005/06 35 (35.1) Note: The HEIPR is usually published to the nearest integer, but the figures are included to one decimal place to inform comparisons over time.
The HEIPR is available for English-domiciled students only, and it is not broken down by smaller areas.
The latest available figures on participation by local areas were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in January 2005 in "Young Participation in Higher Education", which is available from the HEFCE website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/
The HEFCE report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19 disaggregated by parliamentary constituency, local education authority (LEA) and Government Office Region for the years 1997 to 2000.
Figures taken from this report for the West Lancashire constituency, together with the comparable figure for England, are shown in the following table:
Percentage Year cohort aged 18 in: Government office region/country 1997 1998 1999 2000 West Lancashire 33 32 32 33 England 29 29 29 30 Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England.