The latest available figures on participation in higher education by local authority and region based on students entering courses were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in ‘Young Participation in England’, which is available from their website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/
This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by local authority and region, for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures for Cornwall local authority, the South West region and the comparable figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced participation rates beyond 2000.
Cohort for Cornwall2 (number) Young Participation Rate (A) for Cornwall3 (percentage) Cohort for South West2 (number) Young Participation Rate (A) for South West (percentage) Young Participation Rate (A) for England (percentage) 1997 5,750 31 55,000 30.7 29.2 1998 6,070 29 57,900 29.1 28.8 1999 5,940 29 56,500 29.1 29.2 2000 5,720 30 55,200 30.0 29.9 1 Covers all students studying Higher Education Courses at UK Higher Education Institutions and other UK institutions, for example Further Education Colleges. 2 Cohorts are reported to the nearest 10. 3 Young Participation Rates for local authorities are reported to the nearest per cent. Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England.
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 latest provisional figure for 2005-06 is 43 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at local authority or regional level.
The HEIPR is available from the academic year 1999-00. It is the sum of the age specific initial participation rates for ages 17-30. The age specific initial participation rate for eighteen year olds is shown in the following table.
Number of initial entrants HEIPR for 18 year olds (percentage) 1999/2000 115,100 19.3 2000/01 114,000 19.5 2001/02 118,20d 19.6 2002/03 122,40q 19.7 2003/04 124,700 19.2 2004/05 127,200 19.6 2005/06 141,700 21.3 Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100.
The figures in the tables cover the whole population not just those completing their A-Levels.