There are 239,004 students in colleges – a 9.8% decrease since last year

The median age of a college student is 21

1 in 5 (21%) of Scotland’s 18–19-year-olds went to college full-time

Age

Under 16 years 15%

16-24 years 41%

25 years and over 44%

Gender:

Men: 47% Women: 52% Other/prefer not to say: 1%

Hours of Learning

Colleges deliver around 70 million hours of learning every year

Hours of Learning by Age:

Under 16 years 6%

16-24 years 64%

25 years and over 30%

95% of all learning hours lead to a recognised qualification

Mode of Attendance

Full-time 28%

Part-time 72%

Level of Study

Further Education 83%

Full-time 16%

Part-time 67%

Higher Education 17%

Full-time 12%

Part-time 5%

Colleges deliver around a quarter (24%) of all higher education in Scotland

42% of all full-time college activity is in higher education

74% of higher education entrants in colleges are on HNC or HND programmes

In 2018/19, 95% of confirmed qualifiers moved on to positive destinations, with 87% progressing into a higher level of study at college

In 2018/19, 40% of college leavers went on to university

28% of all first-degree entrants to university went via college (42% from the most deprived areas)

In 2018/19, 8,636 students progressed from college to university (4,926 students with prior learning and qualifications fully recognised)

Top 10 Subject Areas

Health Care/Medicine/Health and Safety 45,731 (number of students)

Family Care/Personal Development/Personal Care and Appearance 35,325

Engineering 32,693

Information Technology and Information 24,467

Business/Management/Office Studies 23,454

Construction and Property (Built Environment) 17,668

Area Studies/Cultural Studies/Languages/Literature 12,802

Catering/Food/Leisure Services/Tourism 12,337

Sciences and Mathematics 11,186

Authorship/Photography/Publishing/Media 8,011 

Overseas Students

	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20
Europe (including EU)	505	503	769	267
International (outwith Europe)	607	616	867	709
Rest of UK	914	843	1,376	1,253

227 nationalities are represented in colleges

Student Funding (2019/20)

Bursary: £96m

Discretionary: £8m

Childcare: £13m