Entry to higher education
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of 18 to 20 year olds studying for a full-time first degree, by year and socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2024, 46% of 18 to 20 year olds from higher professional backgrounds were enrolled in higher education. This was higher than those from lower professional (42%), intermediate (36%), higher working (29%) and lower working (25%) backgrounds.
In the 3 years to 2024, an average of 37% of 18 to 20 year olds were enrolled in higher education – an increase from 29% in the 3 years to 2016.
In the 3 years to 2016, 44% of 18 to 20 year olds from higher professional backgrounds were enrolled in higher education, compared with 16% of those from lower working-class backgrounds. In the 3 years to 2024, these percentages went up to 49% and 25% respectively. This means that the gap went down from 29 percentage points to 23 percentage points.
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage of 18 to 20 year olds enrolled in higher education, by socio-economic background (UK, 2024)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 45.6 |
| Lower professional | 42.4 |
| Intermediate | 36.1 |
| Higher working | 29.0 |
| Lower working | 25.2 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
Changes over time
Visualisation
Percentage of 18 to 20 year olds enrolled in higher education, by socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages)
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Data
| Year | Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) | Total (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | 25.0 | 32.0 | 34.4 | 41.7 | 48.5 | 37.2 |
| 2021 to 2023 | 23.5 | 34.0 | 34.0 | 40.2 | 50.1 | 37.3 |
| 2020 to 2022 | 19.7 | 34.1 | 33.6 | 38.0 | 48.0 | 35.7 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 18.9 | 31.1 | 33.0 | 38.5 | 48.6 | 35.1 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 19.5 | 27.4 | 30.4 | 41.1 | 46.7 | 33.9 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 20.1 | 24.4 | 28.8 | 40.9 | 46.5 | 32.4 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 19.7 | 23.9 | 30.6 | 39.3 | 44.3 | 31.6 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 18.3 | 23.0 | 30.8 | 36.1 | 42.7 | 30.0 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 16.3 | 20.5 | 29.5 | 36.6 | 43.9 | 29.0 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2024
Time period
- 2024 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages (Changes over time)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of 18 to 20 year olds in the UK who were enrolled in higher education (HE) from 2014 to 2024. HE includes degree level qualifications and foundation degrees.
Things you need to know
The data is weighted using the LFS person weights.
For changes over time, we use a 3-year moving average. The first data point covers the 3 years from 2014 to 2016, and the final data point covers 2022 to 2024. A formal test was conducted for differences in the socio-economic background gap between 2016 and 2024. The reduction in the gap between 18 to 20 year olds in the lower working and higher professional classes was significant.
The ratios are the percentage of 18 to 20 year olds from higher professional backgrounds in HE, divided by the percentage from lower working backgrounds.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 13KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025