UK Historical Education Statistics

04/07/13

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Above is a link to a Parliamentary Briefing Paper on historical education statistics written by Paul Bolton of Social & General Statistics in 2012. The 1960s saw a major expansion of the number of students obtaining degrees at university with numbers doubling in seven years to more than 50,000. 

"Overall participation in higher education increased from 3.4% in 1950, to 8.4% in 1970, 19.3% in 1990 and 33% in 2000."  National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing Report) Report 6 Widening participation in higher education for student from lower socio-economic groups and students with disabilities. 

 Below is a table outlining the number of students obtaining university degrees in the UK: 

Source: Education: Historical Statistics, Parliamentary Briefing Paper, Bolton 2012

In 1920 women represented only 28% of students obtaining undergraduate degrees. This number changed little over the following four decades and in 1960 women represented only 25% of first degrees awarded by UK universities. However, as shown in the table below, from 1970 onwards there was a marked increase in the proportion of women obtaining first degrees such that in the run up to the millennium women eclipsed men to become 56% of the total by 2010. The increases were very stark between 1960 and 1970, 1970 and 1980, and 1980 and 1990. These were the eras of the [Equal Pay Act and...]. They were also the decades during which the contraceptive pill became widely available. 

Source: Education: Historical Statistics, Parliamentary Briefing Paper, Bolton 2012