Methodological Note:
Following consultation in 2007 the method of identifying students has changed to provide consistency with the Higher Education Statistics Agency ( HESA). The figures in this publication that relate to higher education institutions are defined by HESA's standard registration population 2007-08. To allow comparisons across years all time-series have been revised according to this definition.
The standard registration population includes all higher education student instances active at a reporting institution at any point in the reporting period 1 st August to 31 st July except; dormant students, incoming visiting exchange students, students who study wholly outside the UK, students on sabbatical and writing up students. In this publication students studying at Open University are counted as studying within the country of their domicile.
Students from colleges continue to be reported in the same way and exclude those students who do not complete the first 25% of their course (the point at which they become eligible for funding).