Equality in higher education: statistical reports 2023

Our 16th annual staff and students equality data reports for higher education institutions (HEIs) aim to assist the sector in better understanding the main equality challenges for staff and students, directing future efforts to overcome them.

This report presents a snapshot of the age, disability, ethnicity, sex, and religion and belief of students in higher education (HE) for the 2021/22 academic year, as well as the intersectionality of these identities (for example, female Black students and male disabled students). In addition, our report presents high-level and experimental data related to gender identity, sexual orientation and social background.

Some of the key findings from this year's report include:

• student mental health conditions are the fastest growing disability which is also mirrored in staff data
• more than half of undergraduates and postgraduate research students are female, and there is evidence to suggest that this is slowly contributing to improved representation of female professors and Heads of Institution
• narrowing of the ethnicity degree awarding gap has not been sustained, returning to pre-pandemic levels
• the proportion of first degree undergraduates awarded a first or 2:1 has decreased
• there has been a significant fall in the number of EU students in UK HE.

Advance HE members can download the reports, full data tables and infographics below. There is also a dissemination event where you can find out more about the report from the authors. Register here.

We are looking to find out more about how members use the reports and gather feedback on their effectiveness. If you would like to contribute, you can complete the survey here. 

Infographics

We have produced a set of infographics for both the staff and student report, which visualises some of the key statistics. We encourage you to download the infographics and use them in your work in your institution.