Published on Saturday, 27th August 2016
The new halls of residence construction in the city centre have been greeted by critics who say that student numbers are rising faster than the number of available rooms. The statistics do not bear that out.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency has been counting student numbers for twenty years. Stripping out part-time students, who probably mostly live at home, results in a full-time student body of about 18000. This number has actually fallen slightly since 2010.
There was a sharp rise in numbers through the nineties and the early years of this century, but it has not been sustained. This partly reflects the cap on UK student numbers imposed by the government - and lifted last year - so there could be an increase in future. However unless that happens, the numbers suggest that building new student halls really will lessen demand for spaces in shared houses.
| year | number of full time students |
|---|---|
| 1996/97 | 12387 |
| 1998/99 | 12416 |
| 2000/01 | 12315 |
| 2002/03 | 13945 |
| 2004/05 | 15805 |
| 2006/07 | 15420 |
| 2008/09 | 16675 |
| 2010/11 | 18820 |
| 2012/13 | 18720 |
| 2014/15 | 17995 |
Tags: Education, University