Patterns of Higher Education Institutions in the UK, Universities UK, 2005.

This report, sixth in the series of reports looking at trends in higher education has just been released by Universities UK (UUK). This edition takes a ten-year perspective from 1995/96 to 2004/5 and reveals the following findings:

• A typical higher education institution (HEI) has more than one fifth of its higher education students following postgraduate courses;
• Institutions with more than 5 000 students from outside the UK rose from three in 2001-2 to 13 in 2004-5;
• Enrolments in higher education increased by 33 per cent during the ten-year period;
• The number of students in computer science, medicine, art and design increased, while there has been a decrease of students studying accountancy, engineering and physical sciences;
• The number of non-EU students doubled between 1995 and 2005;
• International students now make up 50 per cent of the student body at taught postgraduate level and 46 per cent at postgraduate research level.

The report states that the growth in absolute numbers of postgraduate research students is entirely due to international students and stresses the importance of the latter both for the financial health of higher education in UK and for the renewal of disciplines in many areas.