By the year 2030, 300,000 new places in British higher education may be required, finds the HEPI report.
Seven years after its last report, the Higher Education Policy Institute released a research aiming to estimate the rate at which the in-demand places in higher education will increase.
The report findings were mostly supported by actual evidence and predictions and were based looking upon different factors that are closely related to such demand.
The major finding of this research was that by 2030, 300,000 new places in higher education will be needed to keep up with demand. Furthermore, if some other important factors are on the same track with the HEPI’s, half million places may be required.
In 2016/17 there were 1.2 million full-time first-degree students in England and 300,000 new places would mean an increase of 25 %. In particular, the number of 18-years-olds in England will experience a significant increase by 23%, the report notes.
Nowadays, in England’s higher education, female participation is higher compared to male participation. If the demography is the only factor there is estimated to be an increase in demand of 50,000 new places, but if there is an increase in participation involved it can be expected an increase in demand of 350,000 new places in higher education by 2030.
A factor that may negatively indicate the rate of participation in higher education in the years to come is mostly Brexit. The report predicts that because of the EU exit, the number of higher education participants will be reduced by 56,000. This means that in total when subtracted with the above prediction of 350,000 new places in demand, turns to be an increase of 300,000 new places in the university by 2030.
In the end, the report states that if the male participation levels up with female participation, the increase in demand for new places may reach half a million.