This article comprises two lists of institutions in the United Kingdom ranked by the number of students enrolled in higher education courses. The first list, based on data from the academic year 2019/20, breaks down student enrollment by level of study, while the second list, from the more recent academic year 2021/22, provides a total student enrollment figure without distinguishing between undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The statistics in both lists are confined to students studying within the United Kingdom and exclude those engaged in distance-learning or transnational education programs conducted overseas. For reference, in the 2018/19 academic year, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) recorded 666,815 overseas students, with the majority (260,155) enrolled at Oxford Brookes University, primarily studying Association of Chartered Certified Accountants courses. Other universities with significant numbers of overseas students in 2018/19 included the University of London Worldwide (40,675), the Open University (29,610), Coventry (16,785), Nottingham (15,740), Liverpool (14,730), Heriot-Watt (11,955), Staffordshire (11,900), and Middlesex (11,890). [1]
The source for the figures is the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) statistics for 2022/23. [2] The student numbers include full-time and part-time, and are broken down into undergraduate and postgraduate students. Some institutes enrol students in both higher education and further education courses, so student numbers may be higher for such institutes. Numbers are of actual enrollments, not FTEs. The data show that 2.28 million people were enrolled in higher education at the 169 higher education providers reporting statistics to HESA.
The data source for these statistics is also the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the academic year 2021/22. [2] The student figures encompass both full-time and part-time students, without distinction between undergraduate and postgraduate levels of study. Some institutions enroll students in both higher education and further education programs, potentially leading to higher student numbers in such cases. It's important to note that these statistics reflect actual student enrollments and not full-time equivalent (FTE) counts. According to the latest available data from HESA, a total of 2.86 million individuals were enrolled in higher education at the various institutions reporting data to HESA for the academic year 2021/22.
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties and is one of the largest universities in the UK, measured by the size of its student population in 2020/21.
University College London is a public research university in London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London, and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment and the largest by postgraduate enrolment.
Imperial College London (Imperial) is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, who envisioned a cultural area in South Kensington that included museums, colleges, and the Royal Albert Hall. In 1907, these colleges – the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines, and the City and Guilds of London Institute – merged to form the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Degree awarding powers and the 'university' title are protected by law, although the precise arrangements for gaining these vary between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
Goldsmiths, University of London, legally the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in New Cross, London. It was renamed Goldsmiths' College after being acquired by the University of London in 1904, and specialises in the arts, design, computing, humanities and social sciences. The main building on campus, known as the Richard Hoggart Building, was originally opened in 1844 and is the site of the former Royal Naval School.
Newcastle University is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a member of the Russell Group, an association of research-intensive UK universities.
Queen Mary University of London is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London.
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant variation, in other countries and regions.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. It is managed by the American Council on Education.
A graduate diploma is generally a qualification taken after completion of a first degree, although the level of study varies in different countries from being at the same level as the final year of a bachelor's degree to being at a level between a master's degree and a doctorate. In some countries the graduate diploma and postgraduate diploma are synonymous, while in others the postgraduate diploma is a higher qualification.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) was the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education in the United Kingdom. HESA became a directorate of Jisc after a merger in 2022.
Some students from the United States pursue educational opportunities outside the United States. This can include primary, secondary and post-secondary students.
The golden triangle is the triangle formed by the university cities of Cambridge, London, and Oxford in the south east of England in the United Kingdom. The triangle is occasionally referred to as the Loxbridge triangle, a portmanteau of London and Oxbridge or, when limited to five members, the G5.
A Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) is defined in U.S. federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or higher total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment. In the 2021–22 academic year, 572 institutions met the federal criteria, up from 539 institutions in the 2018–19 academic year.
The University of South Wales is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The university is the second largest university in Wales in terms of its student numbers, and offers around 500 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university has three main faculties across its campuses in South Wales.
The United Kingdom is among the world's most popular destinations for international students, regularly placing within the top three countries for hosting international students alongside the United States and Australia. Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency indicates that students from the three countries of India, China, and Nigeria together account for around 53% of all international students enrolled at higher education institutions in the UK.