Further education participation
Published
1. Main facts and figures
- in the 10 years to July 2023, the total number of people in further education in England went down from 3.9 million to 2.7 million
- the percentage of people in further education from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds went up from 19.1% to 26.3%
- the total number of students from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds went down from 730,440 to 687,370
- the number of white students went down from 3.1 million to 1.9 million
- in the academic year ending July 2023, white people made up 73.7% of all further education students, and 81.0% of the overall population of England
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.
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:
- Asian
- black
- mixed
- white
- ‘other’
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.
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 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 |
| 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 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 | NA | 56,070 |
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 2023:
- the number of people in further education went down by 31.9%, from 3.9 million to 2.7 million
- the number of people in further education from Asian, black, mixed and 'other' ethnic backgrounds went down from 730,440 to 687,370 (a 5.9% decrease)
- the percentage of people in further education went up for the Asian (8.0% to 10.8%), black (6.3% to 7.5%) and mixed (2.8% to 4.3%) ethnic groups
- the number of people in further education from Asian, black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic backgrounds was at its highest (730,440) in the academic year ending July 2014
4. By ethnicity compared with the overall population
| Adults in Further Education | Population (2021 Census) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Adults in Further Education % | Adults in Further Education Number | Population (2021 Census) % | Population (2021 Census) Number |
| Asian | 10.8 | 280,730 | 9.6 | 5,515,420 |
| Black | 7.5 | 194,810 | 4.2 | 2,409,278 |
| Mixed | 4.3 | 111,170 | 3.0 | 1,717,976 |
| White | 73.7 | 1,923,610 | 81.0 | 48,699,249 |
| Other | 3.9 | 100,660 | 2.2 | 1,255,619 |
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 73.7% of people in further education, and 81.0% of the overall population of England (based on 2021 Census population estimates)
- black people made up 7.5% of people in further education, and 4.2% of the overall population
- people from the ‘other’ ethnic group made up 3.9% of people in further education, and 2.2% of the overall population
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Education and Skills Funding Agency
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Education and Skills Funding Agency 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, gender, age bracket, age bracket type, denominator, numerator, value