There are 248,907 college students

Age

Under 16 years 21%
16-24 years 37%
25 years and over 42%

The median age of a college student is 21

1 in 5 (18%) of Scotland’s 18-19 year-olds attend college full-time

Gender

Men: 47% 
Women: 50%
Other/prefer not to say: 3%

Hours of Learning

Colleges delivered around 68 million hours of learning

Hours of Learning by Age:

Under 16 8%
16-24 64%
25 and over 28%

92% of all learning hours lead to a recognised qualification

Mode of Attendance

Full-time 20%
Part-timed 80%

Further Education 74%
Full-time 39%
Part-time 35%

Higher Education 26%
Full-time 22%
Part-time 4%

Please note the following figures are for 2021/22:

Colleges deliver around 13% of all higher education in Scotland

There were 45,135 entrants to higher education in colleges

65% of higher education entrants in colleges are on HNC or HND programmes

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

24% of entrants to higher education courses in colleges are from the 20% most deprived areas of Scotland

46% of full-time first-degree entrants from the 20% most deprived areas progressed to university after graduating from college

8,690 students with an HNC/D progressed from college to university: 54% entered into year 2 or 3 at university, and 24% of those were from the 20% most deprived backgrounds