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Overview
College Statistics
Colleges receive funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to deliver a target number of hours of learning (credits). For 2024-25 academic year (AY) the core target was 1,552,850 credits which includes mainstream courses plus Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs). This target is effectively unchanged from the 2023-24 AY. Colleges again exceeded this target, delivering 1,561,670 credits in AY 2024-25, broadly in line with the previous year. Overall, in 2024-25 the sector again delivered over 100% of these places.
For the previous AY 2023-24 SFC adjusted the credit allocations for colleges. The credit targets for all colleges was lowered by 10% as a first step in working with the sector to move towards credit allocations that more closely reflect anticipated student activity. The overall level of funding was maintained, meaning that the price per place increased. These changes increased planning certainty for colleges, minimising the risk of recovery of funds if activity was not delivered1.
In addition to reduced credit targets, SFC has implemented stricter guidance for credit claims on full-time enrolments. Previously, the average credits claimed for a full-time place exceeded the expected 15 for HE programmes and 17 for FE programmes. Following the credit guidance2 in AY 2023-24, average credit claims for full-time enrolments have decreased. As a result, while the total credits delivered sector-wide have decreased, part of this reduction reflects fewer credits being claimed for the same level of activity, rather than a reduction in teaching hours.
AY 2023-24 also saw the funding qualifying date for students on courses lasting more than 20 weeks moved to earlier in the academic year. This change is still active for AY 2024-25 and means that some full-time students that previously would have not qualified for funding (i.e. credits) are now meeting the new criteria. The College Statistics Publication series continues to only consider students that were studying after the funding qualifying date.
Figure 1: Enrolments, Full-time Equivalents (FTEs) and Headcount 2015-16 to 2024-25 at Scotland’s Colleges
| Academic Year | Enrolments | Students | FTEs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 281,050 | 226,795 | 129,500 |
| 2016-17 | 291,850 | 235,185 | 132,495 |
| 2017-18 | 303,115 | 242,490 | 131,955 |
| 2018-19 | 328,890 | 264,860 | 129,820 |
| 2019-20 | 302,090 | 239,005 | 127,685 |
| 2020-21 | 277,620 | 212,755 | 128,560 |
| 2021-22 | 322,330 | 236,730 | 129,175 |
| 2022-23 | 329,920 | 248,905 | 124,655 |
| 2023-24 | 267,670 | 218,145 | 116,600 |
| 2024-25 | 259,320 | 209,285 | 116,055 |
Beyond credit funding from SFC, colleges receive funding from other sources including other public funding (such as Skills Development Scotland), self-funding, or support by other sources (e.g. an employer). Overall, based on all funding sources, 116,055 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) places were delivered in 2024-25 by Scottish institutions. The number of FTEs (all funding sources) has decreased from the previous year by 545 (a 0.5% decrease). The total student headcount and number of enrolments have also decreased. Student headcount went down by 4.1% compared to the previous session, whereas the number of enrolments decreased by 3.1% compared to 2023-24. The decrease in student headcount and enrolments is largely driven by a reduction in part-time students. Of the 8,345 fewer enrolments in 2024-25, 88% are accounted for by part-time students. More data on headcount, enrolment and definitions are available in the supplementary tables and annexes.
Figure 2: Difference in Number of Enrolments by Age, 2024-25 vs 2023-24
For students aged between 14 and 21 there has been an increase in the number of enrolments in 2024-25 compared with 2023-24. There are also 3,045 fewer part-time enrolments from students 10 and under. Colleges have been asked to focus on senior phase activity (S4 to S6 or ages 16 to 18), which can be seen from the increase in enrolments across these ages for 2024-253. Students aged 16 saw the largest increase in enrolments from AY 2023-24 to AY 2024-25 (+2,530).
For almost all other ages, there has been a decrease in the number of enrolments from AY 2023-24 to AY 2024-25. In the College Statistics 2023-24 report, a reduction in the funding through certain funding streams was noted4. Although the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) formally ended in the 2023-24 session which led to a drop in the overall number of enrolments between AY 2022-23 and AY 2023-24, a notable number of enrolments were still funded through the FWDF in AY 2023-24. In AY 2024-25, the number of enrolments supported by this fund was minimal. This has had an impact on the number of enrolments amongst those who are working age as shown in Figure 2. Most of this reduction was seen in part-time enrolments.
Although Figure 2 shows the total number of enrolments for 18-to-19-year-olds increased from the previous year, the number (headcount) of 18-to-19-year-olds who participated in a full-time college course decreased in 2024-25. However, the estimated number of 18-to-19-year-olds in the Scottish population increased in 2024-25. This had led to the participation rate for 18-to-19-year-olds decreasing by 0.4 percentage points from the previous session, now at 18.6%. The number of 18-to-19-year-olds in the population is expected to grow after 2024-25 until the end of the decade. More information on participation rates and population projections is provided in the background tables of this report.
The male to female ratio for enrolments at Scotland’s colleges has flipped in 2024-25. Males (51.0%) now outnumber females (49.0%) in total enrolments for the first time since 2016-17. Males outnumber females in FE course enrolments for 2024-25 (51.3%/48.3%), again for the first time in the past eight sessions. Although females outnumber males in HE enrolments (50.6%/49.4%), this gap has closed compared to the previous academic year.
Due to the flexible nature of the college sector in Scotland, students frequently enrol on multiple courses in a given academic year. In 2024-25, 17.3% of students were enrolled on more than one course. This is a similar proportion to 2015-16, where 17.4% of students were enrolled on more than one course.
Figure 3: Full-time Equivalents (FTEs) at Scotland’s Colleges by mode and level of study, 2015-16 to 2024-25
| Academic Year | Part-time FE | Full-time FE | Part-time HE | Full-time HE | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 32,985 | 56,650 | 5,180 | 34,680 | 129,500 |
| 2016-17 | 35,425 | 57,120 | 5,410 | 34,545 | 132,495 |
| 2017-18 | 36,995 | 55,440 | 5,265 | 34,255 | 131,955 |
| 2018-19 | 37,800 | 53,155 | 5,355 | 33,510 | 129,820 |
| 2019-20 | 36,785 | 53,155 | 4,745 | 32,995 | 127,685 |
| 2020-21 | 38,035 | 50,085 | 5,195 | 35,245 | 128,560 |
| 2021-22 | 42,125 | 49,750 | 4,865 | 32,430 | 129,175 |
| 2022-23 | 43,470 | 49,120 | 4,985 | 27,080 | 124,655 |
| 2023-24 | 38,305 | 47,840 | 4,685 | 25,770 | 116,600 |
| 2024-25 | 39,655 | 47,405 | 4,595 | 24,400 | 116,055 |
After a period of larger decline from 2021-22 to 2023-24 the number of FTEs in 2024-25 has steadied, with a decrease of only 545 FTEs. At Further Education (FE) level, the number of part-time FTEs increased by 3.5% from 2023-24 to 2024-25. This is after a 11.9% decline between the previous two academic years. Full-time FE FTEs had a 0.9% decrease in the number of FTEs.
Full-time Higher Education (HE) FTEs have continued to decline, after falling from 2021-22 to 2023-24, with a decrease of 5.3% in 2024-25. With the exception of 2020-21 (which could have been influenced by the Covid pandemic) there has been a long-term trend of decline in full-time HE provision. Following a decrease from the previous session part-time HE FTEs have decreased by 1.9%.
Figure 4: Top Ten Subjects for Full-Time Equivalents at Scotland’s Colleges in 2024-25 and Change Since 2015-16
The subject areas that have seen the largest increase of FTEs between 2015-16 and 2024-25 are Area Studies/Cultural Studies/Languages/Literature (+2,250 FTEs) and Construction and Property (Built Environment) (2,220+ FTEs). Family Care/ Personal Development/ Personal Care and Appearance and Business/ Management/ Office Studies have had the largest decrease in FTEs between 2015-16 and 2024-25 with 4,190 and 3,285 fewer FTEs respectively.
The subject area of Health Care/Medicine/Health and Safety continues to have the highest share of learning provision (FTEs) among all subjects, at 15.8% in 2024-25, a 2.6pp increase from 2015-16 where this this subject area accounted for 13.2% of all learning provision (FTEs).
Compared to the 2015-16 session, the subject area of Construction and Property (Built Environment) has seen the biggest increase in its share of all learning provision (FTEs), with a share of 7.7% in 2015-16 and 10.5% in 2024-5. The subject area of Family Care/Personal Development/Personal Care and Appearance has seen the largest decrease in share of all learning provision (FTEs) since 2014-15 (-2.0%), though remains one of subject areas with the largest overall share of FTEs, at 11.6% in 2024-25.