Further education participation
Published
1. Main facts and figures
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in the 10 years to July 2024, the total number of students in further education in England went down from 3.6 million to 2.7 million, a decrease of 24.1%
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the percentage of students in further education from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds went up from 19.7% to 27.9%
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the total number of students from these backgrounds also went up, from 691,660 to 739,310
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the number of White students went down from 2.8 million to 1.9 million
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in the academic year ending July 2024, White people made up 72.1% of all further education students, and 83.0% of the general population of England aged 16 and over (based on 2021 Census data)
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in the academic year ending July, 2024, there was a higher percentage of students in further education from Black, Mixed, Asian and Other backgrounds than their population from the Census 2021 data
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the number of people in further education, by ethnicity.
Further education includes:
- classroom and work-based learning
- apprenticeships
- community learning
The data includes people aged 19 and over who are funded by the government. It also includes 16 to 18 year olds who are both:
- funded by the government
- studying at institutions that use the ‘Individual Learner Record’ data collection tool
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
The population data from the 2021 Census shows the population of England aged 16 and over for each group
Not included in the data
The data does not include 16 to 18 year olds at institutions that do not report on the Individual Learner Record. This includes most school sixth forms.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for 5 aggregated ethnic groups and for people whose ethnicity was not known:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White
- Other
- Unknown
This means data is shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of students was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 19 ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census.
Ethnicity was known for 98% of people in the data.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
Someone studying more than one course with a single provider is counted once.
Someone studying with more than one provider in an academic year (1 August to 31 July) is counted more than once.
3. By ethnicity compared with the overall population
| People in Further Education | Population aged 16 and over (2021 Census) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | People in Further Education % | People in Further Education Number | Population aged 16 and over (2021 Census) % | Population aged 16 and over (2021 Census) Number |
| Asian | 11.4 | 301,190 | 9.0 | 4,134,385 |
| Black | 7.9 | 210,440 | 3.9 | 1,792,295 |
| Mixed | 4.5 | 119,830 | 2.0 | 938,200 |
| White | 72.1 | 1,911,400 | 83.0 | 38,191,370 |
| Other | 4.1 | 107,850 | 2.1 | 950,605 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 63,630 | N/A* | N/A* |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity compared with the overall population’ (CSV)
Summary of Further education participation By ethnicity compared with the overall population Summary
The data shows:
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White people made up 72.1% of people in further education, and 83.0% of the general population of England aged 16 and over (based on 2021 Census data)
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Black people made up 7.9% of students in further education, and 3.9% of the general population in England aged 16 and over
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people from the Other ethnic group made up 4.1% of students in further education, and 2.1% of the general population in England aged 16 and over
4. By ethnicity over time
| All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other | Unknown | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | All % | All Number | Asian % | Asian Number | Black % | Black Number | Mixed % | Mixed Number | White % | White Number | Other % | Other Number | Unknown % | Unknown Number |
| 2002/03 | 100.0 | 4,703,310 | 6.6 | 288,230 | 4.5 | 198,310 | 1.1 | 50,220 | 85.7 | 3,754,600 | 2.1 | 90,410 | N/A* | 321,540 |
| 2003/04 | 100.0 | 5,437,420 | 6.4 | 328,880 | 4.4 | 228,550 | 1.3 | 66,730 | 86.0 | 4,433,090 | 1.9 | 99,110 | N/A* | 281,060 |
| 2004/05 | 100.0 | 5,563,150 | 6.6 | 349,790 | 4.8 | 257,440 | 1.5 | 78,290 | 85.1 | 4,529,830 | 2.0 | 107,760 | N/A* | 240,040 |
| 2005/06 | 100.0 | 4,893,920 | 7.0 | 331,740 | 5.3 | 250,040 | 1.7 | 78,360 | 84.0 | 3,968,180 | 2.0 | 95,650 | N/A* | 169,950 |
| 2006/07 | 100.0 | 4,202,780 | 7.3 | 297,530 | 5.6 | 230,010 | 1.9 | 77,000 | 83.1 | 3,382,000 | 2.1 | 84,790 | N/A* | 131,450 |
| 2007/08 | 100.0 | 4,360,750 | 7.5 | 318,370 | 5.8 | 246,680 | 2.0 | 83,390 | 82.7 | 3,496,730 | 1.9 | 82,010 | N/A* | 133,570 |
| 2008/09 | 100.0 | 4,837,100 | 7.9 | 373,890 | 5.8 | 274,370 | 2.0 | 93,630 | 82.3 | 3,873,920 | 1.9 | 89,640 | N/A* | 131,650 |
| 2009/10 | 100.0 | 4,635,510 | 7.9 | 359,290 | 5.9 | 266,330 | 2.1 | 95,980 | 82.1 | 3,716,760 | 2.0 | 90,010 | N/A* | 107,140 |
| 2010/11 | 100.0 | 4,264,860 | 8.4 | 349,980 | 6.2 | 258,100 | 2.3 | 95,430 | 81.2 | 3,393,000 | 1.9 | 81,280 | N/A* | 87,070 |
| 2011/12 | 100.0 | 4,216,610 | 8.4 | 346,860 | 6.5 | 267,800 | 2.5 | 103,840 | 80.7 | 3,342,040 | 1.9 | 78,230 | N/A* | 77,840 |
| 2012/13 | 100.0 | 4,320,270 | 8.1 | 340,210 | 6.5 | 272,870 | 2.6 | 111,700 | 81.0 | 3,420,430 | 1.9 | 80,140 | N/A* | 94,920 |
| 2013/14 | 100.0 | 3,913,520 | 8.0 | 306,900 | 6.3 | 242,300 | 2.8 | 106,660 | 80.9 | 3,095,990 | 1.9 | 74,580 | N/A* | 87,090 |
| 2014/15 | 100.0 | 3,576,860 | 8.2 | 289,230 | 6.5 | 228,440 | 2.9 | 102,010 | 80.3 | 2,821,900 | 2.0 | 71,980 | N/A* | 63,300 |
| 2015/16 | 100.0 | 3,274,890 | 8.5 | 271,500 | 6.5 | 206,750 | 3.0 | 95,240 | 80.0 | 2,559,790 | 2.1 | 68,330 | N/A* | 73,290 |
| 2016/17 | 100.0 | 3,152,110 | 8.8 | 271,760 | 6.7 | 206,600 | 3.1 | 94,650 | 79.1 | 2,448,260 | 2.4 | 72,720 | N/A* | 58,120 |
| 2017/18 | 100.0 | 3,062,010 | 9.2 | 276,510 | 6.8 | 202,730 | 3.2 | 95,450 | 78.3 | 2,350,680 | 2.6 | 77,630 | N/A* | 59,000 |
| 2018/19 | 100.0 | 2,924,260 | 9.6 | 276,260 | 6.8 | 195,620 | 3.4 | 96,650 | 77.3 | 2,214,220 | 2.8 | 81,600 | N/A* | 59,910 |
| 2019/20 | 100.0 | 2,579,870 | 9.8 | 246,480 | 6.8 | 171,270 | 3.5 | 88,830 | 76.8 | 1,939,390 | 3.1 | 78,180 | N/A* | 55,730 |
| 2020/21 | 100.0 | 2,480,570 | 9.5 | 229,260 | 7.0 | 169,250 | 4.0 | 95,810 | 76.5 | 1,853,500 | 3.1 | 75,500 | N/A* | 57,250 |
| 2021/22 | 100.0 | 2,559,830 | 10.2 | 256,800 | 7.3 | 181,930 | 4.1 | 103,810 | 74.8 | 1,876,150 | 3.6 | 89,440 | N/A* | 51,700 |
| 2022/23 | 100.0 | 2,667,040 | 10.8 | 280,730 | 7.5 | 194,810 | 4.3 | 111,170 | 73.7 | 1,923,610 | 3.9 | 100,660 | N/A* | 56,070 |
| 2023/24 | 100.0 | 2,714,340 | 11.4 | 301,190 | 7.9 | 210,440 | 4.5 | 119,830 | 72.1 | 1,911,400 | 4.1 | 107,850 | N/A* | 63,630 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Further education participation By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that, in the 10 years to July 2024:
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the number of students in further education went down from 3.6 million to 2.7 million – a decrease of 24.1%
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the number of students in further education from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds went up from 691,660 to 739,310 – an increase of 6.9%
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the percentage of students in further education went up for the Asian (8.2% to 11.4%), Black (6.5% to 7.9%), Mixed (2.9% to 4.5%), and Other (2.0% to 4.1%) ethnic groups
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the number of students in further education from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds was at its highest (831,530) in the academic year ending July 2009
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Department for Education uses data about people in further education and their type of learning to allocate funding.
Secondary source
Ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion: Census 2021 in England and Wales
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Ad-hoc
Purpose of data source
The Census takes place every 10 years. Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
6. Download the data
This file contains: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, age, value_type, unknowns_note, value, denominator, numerator