Higher Education Students’ enrolment in United Kingdom

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Higher Education Students’ enrolment in United Kingdom
Student’s name:
Student’s ID:
Institution:

Higher Education Students’ enrolment in United Kingdom 2
Introduction
Higher education is a term that is used in distinguishing courses of study that result in the award
of a diploma, degree or a similar advanced qualification (Marginson, 2006). Higher education
entails the education stage which begins after schooling for fifteen years for the intellectual work
and advanced students’ training for an effective and an efficient role in leadership in all walks of
national life (Teichler, 2004). Higher education involves all education that is above the level of
secondary school. They include colleges, professional schools, universities graduate schools,
normal schools and ethical colleges. The aim of higher education is to attain the socio-cultural
and developmental needs of a country (Enders, 2004). Through higher education, individuals are
presented with the opportunity to develop their potential (Teferra & Altbachl, 2004). As a result,
through higher education, the society is presented with individuals who are morally sound and
are capable of multifarious roles in the society.
The United Kingdom has a vast variety of opportunities in higher education for a wide range of
students with over 100 universities offering a variety of degree programs (Yorke & Longden,
2008). In the United Kingdom, there are four levels of education during enrolment, namely, first
degree, postgraduate research, postgraduate taught and other undergraduate levels as per the
classification of the Higher Education Statistical Agency (Scott, 2005). In this regard, the
following study aims to determine the relationship between these higher education academic
levels.
Hypothesis
The following hypothesis was developed:

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 The progression rate from the first degree to the postgraduate taught is higher than the
progression rate from the postgraduate taught to the postgraduate research.
Sample size
Data that was used was obtained from online sources and represented all the recorded number of
students who enrolled in the various levels of higher education. Thus, the researcher opted to use
the whole population size and not sample sizes.
Source of data
Data on student’s enrolment was secondary in nature, having been collected from the internet
(Vartanian, 2010). The data was primarily obtained from the Higher Education Students Agency
(HESA) student records. The sight is used by colleges, universities and other higher education
providers on an annual basis. HESA collects data on students which cover data about their
personal characteristics, modules of study and course, and the qualifications that they have
achieved.
Predicted outcome
Due to the progression of students from one level of higher education academic level to the next,
it is predicted that the progression rate of students from the first degree to the postgraduate taught
is higher than the progression rate of students from the postgraduate taught to the postgraduate
research.
Data collection tools and data