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Overview
College Statistics
Figure 1: Enrolments, FTE and Headcount 2013-2014 to 2022-2023 at Scotland’s Colleges
| Academic Year | Enrolments | Students | FTEs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 299,828 | 238,371 | 132,942 |
| 2014-15 | 297,011 | 226,898 | 131,619 |
| 2015-16 | 281,051 | 226,794 | 129,500 |
| 2016-17 | 291,849 | 235,187 | 132,494 |
| 2017-18 | 303,115 | 242,488 | 131,953 |
| 2018-19 | 328,889 | 264,858 | 129,821 |
| 2019-20 | 302,092 | 239,004 | 127,683 |
| 2020-21 | 277,620 | 212,755 | 128,559 |
| 2021-22 | 322,332 | 236,730 | 129,175 |
| 2022-23 | 329,920 | 248,907 | 124,654 |
Scotland’s colleges enrol publicly funded students and students who self-fund or are funded via other sources (such as the European Social Fund or Skills Development Scotland), and overall have delivered 124,654 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) places in 2022-23. The number of FTEs (all funding sources) has decreased from the previous year by 4,521 and is lower than any other academic year across the past ten sessions. This is a 3.5% decrease compared to 2021-22 FTEs.
Although FTE has fallen, both the total student headcount and number of enrolments have increased for a second consecutive year. Student headcount grew by around 5.1% compared to the previous session, whereas the number of enrolments increased by around 2.4% compared to 2021-22. The rise in student headcount and enrolments but fall in the total FTE is driven by an overall increase in the number of enrolments on part-time courses but decrease in enrolments on full-time courses. More data on headcount, enrolment and definitions are available in the supplementary tables and annexes.
College participation rates fell again in 2022-23 for the 18- to 19-year-old population. 18.4% of Scottish 18- to 19-year-olds participated in a full-time college course. This was a 1.5% percentage point decrease from 2021-22 and the second consecutive year of a decrease in participation rates. Statistics published by UCAS1 showed that more Scottish school leavers accepted places at Scottish universities in 2022 – another increase on the previous year. Figures from the Scottish Government2 also showed that a record proportion of school leavers have gone into employment. This demonstrates the variety of positive options available to the school leaver cohort. There are also demographic and other conditions which may account for the decrease in participation rates, with colleges having a shrinking pool of 18- to 24-year-olds to recruit from until 2025 - these are explained in greater depth in our annexes document.
Figure 2: Full-time Equivalents at Scotland’s Colleges by mode and level of study, 2013-2014 to 2022-2023
| Academic Year | Part-time FE | Full-time FE | Part-time HE | Full-time HE | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 38,413 | 54,284 | 6,639 | 33,606 | 132,942 |
| 2014-15 | 36,493 | 54,024 | 6,526 | 34,576 | 131,619 |
| 2015-16 | 32,986 | 56,652 | 5,181 | 34,681 | 129,500 |
| 2016-17 | 35,423 | 57,119 | 5,409 | 34,543 | 132,494 |
| 2017-18 | 36,994 | 55,439 | 5,267 | 34,254 | 131,953 |
| 2018-19 | 37,802 | 53,157 | 5,354 | 33,508 | 129,821 |
| 2019-20 | 36,785 | 53,157 | 4,747 | 32,994 | 127,683 |
| 2020-21 | 38,033 | 50,087 | 5,193 | 35,246 | 128,559 |
| 2021-22 | 42,126 | 49,752 | 4,865 | 32,432 | 129,175 |
| 2022-23 | 43,469 | 49,120 | 4,987 | 27,078 | 124,654 |
At Further Education (FE) level, full-time FTEs (all funding sources) dropped by 1.3% in 2022-23 but part-time FTEs have seen another year of increase, up 3.2% for the previous session. Another year-on-year increase in part-time FE FTEs continues to indicate that upskilling/reskilling is an increasingly popular option.
After a decline from 2020-21 to 2021-22, full-time Higher Education (HE) FTEs also fell by 16.5% from 2021-22 to 2022-23. Part-time HE FTEs grew by 2.5% in 2022-23 compared to the previous year.
In 2022-23, the subject area of Health Care/Medicine/Health and Safety had the highest share of learning provision (FTEs) among all subjects, at 15.5%. This is a slight increase from 2013-14, where this subject area accounted for 14.6% of all learning provision (FTEs).
Compared to the 2013-14 session, the subject area of Construction and Property (Built Environment) has seen the biggest increase in its share of all learning provision (FTEs), with a share of 7.2% in 2013-14 and 10.4% in 2022-23. The subject area of Family Care/Personal Development/Personal Care and Appearance has seen the largest fall in share of all learning provision (FTEs) since 2013-14 (-2.7%), though remains one of subject areas with the largest overall share of FTEs, at 12.0% in 2022-23.
The gap between male and female enrolments reduced in 2022-23, with the male to female ratio now standing at 49.2%/50.8%. Females outnumber males in both FE and HE college courses, with the gap being widest in HE courses (48.2%/51.8%).
Due to the flexible nature of the college sector in Scotland, students frequently enrol on multiple courses in a given academic year. In 2022-23, 23.1% of students were enrolled on more than one course. This is a change from 2013-14, where 18.3% of students were enrolled on more than one course.