Nearly 55,000 fewer part-time students were studying in the UK in 2013-14 than in 2012-13, with overall numbers dipping to 603,325 last year, according to data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency on 15 January.

Four years earlier the total number of part-time students was close to 900,000, but numbers have been since been hit hard by year-on-year decreases.

That trend continued last year when new part-time enrolments fell by 7 per cent to 281,635, although this drop was less severe than in 2012-13 when new enrolments shrank by 22 per cent.

Full-time undergraduate enrolments fared far better in 2013-14 when ministers made available an extra 30,000 student places and gave universities more scope to recruit above their student number quotas.

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Overall first-year enrolments for those taking their first degree rose by 8 per cent to 467,860 in the last academic year ¨C a rise of nearly 35,000 in total.

With first-year postgraduate enrolments also increasing by 4 per cent last year, the number of full-time students rose by 7 per cent in 2013-14 to almost 1.7 million, Hesa says.

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It meant that just 28 per cent of UK students now study part-time, compared with 31 per cent in 2012-13.

The total number of undergraduates in the UK fell by 2 per cent given the fall in part-time numbers, Hesa says.

First-year undergraduate enrolments rose or remained the same in all subjects in 2013-14, except in languages, where intake decreased by 5 per cent, in medicine and dentistry (a 2 per cent fall) and in education (1 per cent down).

The number of international students rose by 3 per cent to 310,195, Hesa says.

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It adds there were more first-year students from China (58,810 in total) than from the whole of the European Union excluding the UK (57,190).

However, Gordon Slaven, the British Council¡¯s director of higher education, also pointed out that the number of students coming from India had fallen by 12 per cent and Pakistan by 7 per cent.

¡°While the UK sector can be pleased that the overall numbers have increased, our competitor countries such as the USA and Australia, have shown much more significant increases.

¡°This highlights the need for the UK to take a much more proactive and united approach to attracting highly talented student from around the world to reduce the risk of losing our share of the international student market.¡±

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com