Entry rates into higher education
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1. Main facts and figures
- in 2018, White pupils had the lowest entry rate into higher education (where ‘entry rate’ is the percentage of state school pupils aged 18 years accepted into higher education) – this has been the case every year since 2006
- pupils from the Chinese ethnic group have consistently had the highest entry rate into higher education during the period studied
- entry rates in 2018 were higher for all ethnic groups compared with those in 2006
- compared with 2017, the rates for the Mixed and Other ethnic groups both fell by 0.1 percentage points in 2018
Things you need to know
The data does not take into account pupils’ individual characteristics or their past academic achievements, all of which affect their likelihood to get a place at university or college.
What the data measures
This data measures the percentage of 18 year olds from different ethnic backgrounds who got a higher education place in the UK (referred to here as the 'entry rate').
The data only includes pupils from state schools in England who applied to full time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
The ethnic categories used in this data
Data on ethnicity is broken down into 6 broad groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Chinese
- Mixed
- White (including White ethnic minorities)
- Other
2. Entry rates into higher education by ethnicity
| time | Asian | Black | Chinese | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| 2006 | 34.5 | 21.6 | 53.6 | 22.9 | 21.8 | 27.0 |
| 2007 | 34.6 | 23.1 | 52.8 | 24.3 | 22.2 | 27.1 |
| 2008 | 35.7 | 25.7 | 52.0 | 25.0 | 23.5 | 27.9 |
| 2009 | 36.1 | 27.0 | 52.6 | 25.7 | 24.1 | 27.8 |
| 2010 | 35.0 | 28.4 | 52.6 | 25.6 | 24.2 | 27.8 |
| 2011 | 37.0 | 31.7 | 60.1 | 28.9 | 25.8 | 30.5 |
| 2012 | 36.1 | 31.4 | 57.1 | 27.8 | 24.7 | 30.6 |
| 2013 | 38.6 | 34.7 | 57.4 | 29.2 | 26.1 | 32.0 |
| 2014 | 39.8 | 36.0 | 59.3 | 31.0 | 27.3 | 34.3 |
| 2015 | 42.3 | 38.4 | 61.0 | 32.3 | 27.9 | 36.8 |
| 2016 | 44.1 | 39.1 | 60.9 | 33.4 | 28.9 | 38.0 |
| 2017 | 45.8 | 40.3 | 63.0 | 34.0 | 29.3 | 40.2 |
| 2018 | 46.7 | 41.2 | 66.3 | 33.9 | 29.5 | 40.1 |
Download table data for ‘Entry rates into higher education by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Entry rates into higher education by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Entry rates into higher education Entry rates into higher education by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- in 2018, pupils from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest entry rate into higher education (at 66.3%), while White pupils had the lowest (at 29.5%)
- pupils from the Chinese ethnic group have had the highest entry rates every year during the period studied
- White pupils had the lowest entry rates for 12 consecutive years since 2007
- entry rates in 2018 were higher for all ethnic groups compared with those in 2006
- compared with 2017, entry rates increased for all ethnic groups except for the Mixed and Other ethnic groups, where rates fell by 0.1 percentage points for both groups
- the biggest increase in entry rates between 2006 and 2018 was among Black pupils, at 19.6 percentage points (from 21.6% to 41.2%); the smallest increase was among White pupils, at 7.7 percentage points (from 21.8% to 29.5%)
3. Methodology
Higher education entry rates are estimates. They are calculated by linking UCAS admissions data with pupil data contained in the:
The method used to link the school and UCAS data requires a full match across a range of identifying details to UCAS applicants who live in England. The published entry rates are lower than the real value because ambiguous matches are not used.
The Department for Education does not have access to the individual-level UCAS data used to calculate the entry rates.
Rounding
Percentages have been rounded to 1 decimal place.
Related publications
Widening Participation in Higher Education: 2018 – DfE Official Statistics
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Non-official statistics
Publisher
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) End of Cycle Report provides data about participation and progression in higher education admissions.
5. Download the data
This file includes the following variables: measure, time, time_type, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, geography, value and value_type.