Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Higher education in the UK - Statistics & Facts
Higher education is undertaken by an increasing number of people across the globe, and with one of the most prestigious and established university systems anywhere in the world, the United Kingdom is no exception. As of 2024, there were over 2.9 million students at UK universities. Among those aged between 30 and 34 in the United Kingdom, half were educated to a tertiary level, one of the highest shares in Europe. Additionally, there were around 752,000 applications to study at university in 2024, an increase of around 347,000 when compared with 1994, when there were 405,000 applications.
UK universities
As student numbers has increased, so has the number of universities in the UK. As of 2023 there were 296 higher education institutions in operation. The oldest universities in the UK are also the highest rated. In 2025, Oxford University, founded in 1096, was the second-highest ranked university in the United Kingdom, with it's traditional rival Cambridge, founded by exiles from Oxford in 1209, in first place. Neither Oxford or Cambridge were the largest universities in terms of student numbers, however, with that particular honor going to the Open University, which focuses on remote learning and had 133,265 students enrolled, followed by University College London, which had 51,435 students, and The University of Manchester which had 46,915.Grades, subjects and debt
The top grade possible for undergraduates in the UK is a first-class with honors, and although the second highest grade (an upper second, or 2.1) is still the most common, the share of students graduating with a first has increased from 17 percent in 2011/12 to 29 percent in 2023/24. In the same year, the most popular subject group for students in the UK was business and management studies, at 595,620 enrollments. Depending on where students study in the UK, they will graduate with varying levels of student loan debt. Students graduating in England in 2025 will have accrued on average 53,000 British pounds worth of debt, compared with over 39,000 pounds in Wales, 28,000 British pounds in Northern Ireland, and almost 18,000 pounds in Scotland. As of 2025, Scotland does not charge tuition fees, while the other three countries of the UK do, explaining the relatively large disparity in student debt.
