Further education participation

Published 10 October 2017

Last updated 11 October 2017 - see all updates

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• between 2002/03 and 2015/16, the percentage of learners from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) who participated in further education (FE) increased from 13.3% to 19.6%

• the number of people participating in FE among ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) increased by 2%, from 627,000 to 642,000

• total FE participation fell by 30% from 4.7 million in 2002/03 to 3.3 million in 2015/16, with the number of learners from a White background falling by 32% from 3.8 million to 2.6 million over the same period

• in 2015, 78.2% of participants in further education (FE) were from a White background, which is lower than their share of the overall population (84.6%)

Things you need to know

Data from 2002/03 to 2010/11 was collected differently from that collected after 2011, so is not directly comparable to the data for 2011/12 to 2015/16.

This methodology change also means that apprenticeship start numbers are overrepresented by an estimated 1 to 2% for reporting periods from 2002/03 to 2010/11.

Between 2002/03 and 2006/07, ethnicity data for learners on Employer Training Pilots was not collected. This means there is a difference between the data reported here and the total FE numbers reported by the Department for Education.

What the data measures

This data measures the number of learners, funded by government, who participate in further education. Each reporting period covers an academic year, which runs from 1 August to 31 July.

Further education includes classroom and work-based learning, apprenticeships, community learning, and learning by offenders. It is offered by a range of providers, including further education colleges and external institutions.

A person studying on more than one course with a single provider is counted once. A person who studies with more than one provider in an academic year will be counted separately at each. In that case they will be counted as 2 or more participants.

To provide additional context, the percentage of people participating in further education by ethnic group has been compared to population estimates (2015) published by ONS.

The ethnic categories used in this data

Data from 2011/12 onwards has been classified using the 5 standardised ethnic groups based on the 2011 census. Data collected before 2011 has been reclassified to the 2011 census definitions. However it is not directly comparable with data from 2011/12 onwards because of the different methodology used.

• White

• Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups

• Asian/Asian British

• Black/African/Caribbean/Black British

• Other ethnic group

2. Futher education participants by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2002/03 to 2015/16
• Source: Further education and skills

Number of further education participants by ethnicity over time

Year	All	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl. White minorities)
	Participants	Participants	Participants	Participants	Participants	Participants	Participants	Participants
2002/03	4,703,310	288,230	198,310	50,220	3,754,600	90,410	321,540	627,170
2003/04	5,437,420	328,880	228,550	66,730	4,433,090	99,110	281,060	723,270
2004/05	5,563,150	349,790	257,440	78,290	4,529,830	107,760	240,040	793,280
2005/06	4,893,920	331,740	250,040	78,360	3,968,180	95,650	169,950	755,790
2006/07	4,202,780	297,530	230,010	77,000	3,382,000	84,790	131,450	689,330
2007/08	4,360,750	318,370	246,680	83,390	3,496,730	82,010	133,570	730,450
2008/09	4,837,100	373,890	274,370	93,630	3,873,920	89,640	131,650	831,530
2009/10	4,635,510	359,290	266,330	95,980	3,716,760	90,010	107,140	811,610
2010/11	4,264,860	349,980	258,100	95,430	3,393,000	81,280	87,070	784,790
2011/12	4,216,610	346,860	267,800	103,840	3,342,040	78,230	77,840	796,730
2012/13	4,320,270	340,210	272,870	111,700	3,420,430	80,140	94,920	804,920
2013/14	3,913,520	306,900	242,300	106,660	3,095,990	74,580	87,090	730,440
2014/15	3,576,860	289,230	228,440	102,010	2,821,900	71,980	63,300	691,660
2015/16	3,274,900	271,500	206,750	95,240	2,559,790	68,330	73,290	641,820

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Further education participation Futher education participants by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• overall participation in further education (FE) peaked in 2004/05 at 5.6 million

• participation in FE by ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) peaked in 2008/09, at 832,000, while participation by learners from a White background peaked in 2004/05 at 4.5 million

• since 2004/05, overall FE participation has fallen by 41%, while participation among ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) has fallen by only 19%; however against this trend, participation from Mixed ethnic groups increased by 22%

3. Further education participation by ethnicity compared to the overall population

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015/16
• Source: Further education and skills

Percentage of further education participants by ethnicity compared to the overall population

Ethnicity	FE learners	Population (2015 estimate)
Asian	8.3	8.2
Black	6.3	3.7
Mixed	2.9	2.6
White	78.2	84.6
Other	2.1	1.1

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Further education participation Further education participation by ethnicity compared to the overall population Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2015, 78.2% of learners in further education (FE) were from a White background, which is lower than the White share of the overall population (84.6%)

• learners from Black ethnic groups made up 6.3% of all participants in FE, which is higher than the Black share of the overall population (3.7%)

• learners from the Other ethnic group made up 2.1% of all participants in FE, which is higher than the Other share of the overall population (1.1%)

• all other ethnic groups' participation in FE was similar to the overall population

4. Further education participants by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2002/03 to 2015/16
• Source: Further education and skills

Percentage of further education participants by ethnicity overtime

Year	Asian	Black	Mixed	White	Other	Unknown	Ethnic minority (excl. White minorities)
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
2002/03	6.1	4.2	1.1	79.8	1.9	6.8	13.3
2003/04	6.0	4.2	1.2	81.5	1.8	5.2	13.2
2004/05	6.3	4.6	1.4	81.4	1.9	4.3	14.2
2005/06	6.8	5.1	1.6	81.1	2.0	3.5	15.5
2006/07	7.1	5.5	1.8	80.5	2.0	3.1	16.4
2007/08	7.3	5.7	1.9	80.2	1.9	3.1	16.8
2008/09	7.7	5.7	1.9	80.1	1.9	2.7	17.2
2009/10	7.8	5.7	2.1	80.2	1.9	2.3	17.5
2010/11	8.2	6.1	2.2	79.6	1.9	2.0	18.4
2011/12	8.2	6.4	2.5	79.3	1.9	1.8	19.0
2012/13	7.9	6.3	2.6	79.2	1.9	2.2	18.7
2013/14	7.8	6.2	2.7	79.1	1.9	2.2	18.6
2014/15	8.1	6.4	2.9	78.9	2.0	1.8	19.4
2015/16	8.3	6.3	2.9	78.2	2.1	2.2	19.6

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Further education participation Further education participants by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• since 2002/03, the percentage of ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities) participating in further education (FE) has gradually increased overtime

• in 2015/16 the percentage of Asian participation in FE was at a higher level than any other ethnic minority groups (excluding White minorities), at 8.3%

5. Methodology

These data are based on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The ILR is submitted by Further Education providers to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA )for funding purposes. It does not include privately funded learners. A learner studying several courses with one provider will be counted only once. However, a learner studying at 2 or more providers in a year will be counted separately at each provider.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Category level data are rounded to the nearest 10 to avoid identification of individuals. Numbers less than 5 are suppressed. Totals are rounded to 100. Category level data are rounded to the nearest 10 to avoid identification of individuals. Numbers less than 5 are suppressed. Totals are rounded to 100.

Rounding

Category level data are rounded to the nearest 10 to avoid identification of individuals. Numbers less than 5 are suppressed. Totals are rounded to 100.

Further technical information

Completion of the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) by Further Education (FE) providers is necessary for colleges to receive funding.

Ethnicity data is completed by the learner and are taken as reported. No adjustments are made to the reported dataset.

Technical information related to the public dissemination of this information can be found in the latest SFR (PDF opens in a new window or tab)

6. Data sources

Source

Further education and skills

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Education and Skills Funding Agency

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The Individualised Learner Record (ILR) uses admin data collected about learners by colleges and other Further Education (FE) institutions. Data about learner demographics and the type of learning are captured by Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to allocate FE funding. Data on FE learners that form part of the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) are gathered from employers in the same format as the ILR and included in the ILR dataset. The final data are published annually by DfE as a national statistics release. More detailed explanation is available in the further technical information section.

7. Download the data

Further education participation - Spreadsheet (csv) 17 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, value, numerator and denominator

Publication release date: 10 October 2017

Updated: 11 October 2017

full page history

1. 11 October 2017 Technical change: Updated url to match page title.
2. 10 October 2017 First published

From: Education and Skills Funding Agency

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