The latest figures for Higher education student enrolment and qualifications obtained at higher education providers in the United Kingdom 2015/16 have been released by HESA.
The total number of enrolments at higher education institutes in Scotland was 235,565 in 2015/16, a 1% increase from 2014/15 for both undergraduate and postgraduate enrolment. The enrolment of UK domiciled students increased by 1% as did the enrolment of EU domiciled students. The number of non-EU domiciled students increased by 3%.[1]
Commenting on the figures, Alastair Sim, Director of Universities Scotland said:
“These are welcome figures for Scottish universities from HESA given the context our universities are currently recruiting in.
“Overall non-EU student numbers are up 3% to 29,980 with Chinese and American student numbers up 2 and 3 per cent respectively.
“However we are seeing the impact of the Home Office’s unhelpful approach to international students with Indian student numbers down and Nigerian student numbers falling significantly. Our universities are competing with institutions across the world, many who have ambitious targets and are actively being supported by their governments, who recognise the importance and value of international students.
The fact that Scottish universities continued to attract international students at a time where the number of university-sponsored study visa applications fell[2] is testament to the hard-earned world-class reputation of Scotland’s universities.”
[1] HESA Higher education student enrolments and qualifications obtained at higher education providers in the United Kingdom 2015/16 https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/12-01-2017/sfr242-student-enrolments-and-qualifications# Table 1a
[2] Home Office National Statistics: Study (December 2016): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2016/study