The number of new starters on part-time undergraduate courses in 2012-13 was down 33 per cent on the previous year. Postgraduate part-time enrolments were also down 7 per cent compared with 2011-12.
Overall, the largest drop in part-time undergraduate enrolment comes from UK students. Here the number of new entrants has fallen from just over 225,000 in 2011-12 to less than 150,000 in 2012-13, a decline of 34 per cent. By contrast the largest drop in enrolments for part-time postgraduate courses came from non-European Union overseas students.
The number of these students fell by 760 – or 15 per cent – between 2011-12 and 2012-13, the data, published on 16 January, show.
Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Higher Education Student Enrolments and Qualifications Obtained at Higher Education Institutions in the UK for the Academic Years 2012-13.