University students in UK double this year

The number of students about to start university in the UK this year has doubled to 1.87m compared to 984,000 in 1992, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The report showed one in every three people aged between 18-24 are joining full time education.

In contrast the number of international students coming to the UK to study was at their lowest since 2007. In 1977 there were over 29,000 international students rising to a peak of over 8 times this amount in 2010. Recent years have seen a decline in long term immigrants arriving to study with numbers falling to 164,000 in the year ending March 2016.

In terms of employment, students in 2016 are less likely to work compared to 20 years ago with just 35.4% having a job in June to August 2015 to May to July 2016. Those that do have a job are more likely to keep it throughout the academic year.

Many of the local authorities that contain leading Russell Group universities have recorded a peak in people moving into the area at age 19 followed by a similar peak of people moving out at the age of 22 when they finish their course.

Young people in rural areas tend to move away from their local authority to gain university education elsewhere with a chance of them not returning once they finish. This causes drain in skills in some areas without universities.

In London the opposite occurs as there are many universities leading to a larger more varied graduate labour market and inward migration of people aged 18-22.

It affects the birth rate in the area as students with higher education tend to have a lower average birth rate.

Local authorities neighbouring those with universities tend to show similar peaks in in-ward migration. People aged 19 moved out of the area whilst people aged 22 move in, which are most likely to be those returning for their studies.

Oxford and Cambridge face an 80%increase in the 18-24 population during university term time.

The male to female ratio may be affected by the type of courses the universities offer. In 2011 Runnymede had 87 men aged 16-24 for every 100 women in the same age group during term time, which may be due to the Royal Holloway College offering Arts and Humanities subjects that attract more female students.

Likewise in Stafford and Charnwood, Staffordshire and Loughborough universities have courses that attract more male students leading to 18 and 13 more men per 100 women during term time aged 16 to 24.