There are 236,730 college students

The median age of a college student is 21

1 in 5 (20%) of Scotland’s 18-19 year-olds attended college full-time

Age

Under 16 years 17%
16-24 years 40%
25 years and over 43%

Gender

Men: 47%
Women: 51%
Other/prefer not to say: 2%

Hours of Learning

Colleges delivered around 71 million hours of learning

Hours of Learning by Age:

Under 16 6%
16-24 64%
25 and over 30%

94% of all learning hours lead to a recognised qualification

Mode of Attendance

Full-time 21%

Part-time 79%

Level of Study

Further Education 86%

Full-time 12%
Part-time 74%

Higher Education 14%

Full-time 9%
Part-time 5%

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 firstdegree 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

Top 10 Subject Areas

1. Health Care/Medicine/Health and Safety 52,953 (number of students)
2. Family Care/Personal Development/Personal Care and Appearance 42,409
3. Engineering 30,795
4. Information Technology and Information 23,543
5. Business/Management/Office Studies 19,898
6. Construction and Property (Built Environment) 18,152
7. Area Studies/Cultural Studies/Languages/Literature 11,200
8. Catering/Food/Leisure Services/Tourism 10,605
9. Sciences and Mathematics 10,425
10. Sports, Games and Recreation 8,488

Overseas Students

	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22
Europe (including EU)	505	503	769	267	305	238
International (outwith Europe)	607	616	867	709	1,012	759
Rest of UK	914	843	1,376	1,253	1,800	1,794

217 nationalities are represented in colleges

Student Funding

Bursary: £93.3m
Discretionary: £16.1m
Childcare: £8.8m