Further education participation

Published

1. Main facts and figures

  • 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%

  • the percentage of students in further education from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic backgrounds went up from 19.7% to 27.9%

  • the total number of students from these backgrounds also went up, from 691,660 to 739,310

  • the number of White students went down from 2.8 million to 1.9 million

  • 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)

  • 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

Percentage of participants in further education, and percentage of the overall population aged 16 and over in England, by ethnicity
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:

  • 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)

  • Black people made up 7.9% of students in further education, and 3.9% of the general population in England aged 16 and over

  • 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

Percentage and number of participants in further education, 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:

  • the number of students in further education went down from 3.6 million to 2.7 million – a decrease of 24.1%

  • 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%

  • 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

  • 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

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

Further education participation 2024 - Spreadsheet (csv) 39 KB

This file contains: measure, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, time, time_type, geography, geography_type, geography_code, age, value_type, unknowns_note, value, denominator, numerator