The results of the of the 2023 EPC Engineering Enrolments survey are now available. Our results can be explored using our members-only Data explorer, through the slide-deck or by reading the summary blog below.
By Seb Fowler
As always, many thanks to the members who completed this year’s EPC engineering enrolments survey. We appreciate that it has been a difficult year for those involved with collating sector data, and this is reflected in a lower than usual member response rate. But the challenges experienced with the Jisc implementation of Data Futures and the additional risks to the quality of data delivered by Jisc at the end of the process mean our data is more crucial to colleagues than ever. Not only does the survey provide an early temperature check of the health of the HE undergraduate and postgraduate engineering enrolments and provide early signals to changing patterns of enrolments, it also provides this insight long before official sector enrolment data becomes available.
In 2022 we were able to present the results of the survey using our pioneering Data explorer and we are proud to be able to implement this feature again this year. Our magnificent Data explorer members-only tool provides the engineering academic community the opportunity to explore the data in a way that suits them by being able to filter to disciplines and cohorts of your interest. Through this service you can explore tables and charts tailored to your needs. For the first time this year, we also introduce Takeaways, which capture data headlines and soundbites for your ease of access.
The responses suggest that engineering enrolments are more turbulent than usual. The general trend from this year’s data is an overall decrease in engineering enrolments, (also reflected in the UCAS end-of-cycle data). Despite this trend it appears, the Russell group seems to have fared better, seeing a slight increase in enrolments in comparison to a notable decrease for non-Russell group universities (approximately one in every three of our respondents represented the Russell group).
In terms of discipline headlines, this year our data saw Mechanical engineering as the leader discipline and also led the disciplines for growth in 2023, suggesting a strong year for Mechanical engineering. The data also shows that Electrical and electronic engineering has fared particularly well in terms of overseas enrolments.
The data also shows the home enrolment market is strong, challenging the of-wheeled-out media rhetoric that international students are taking places from home students. Despite this, as usual engineering is hugely reliant on overseas enrolment, making up 40.8% of enrolments from our data. Following usual trends, postgraduate enrolments are mostly composed of overseas students (who are more likely to be female) at around 80%, this has seen a 2% decrease in the proportion from last years’ data.
More detail is available in the Recruitment + Admissions Forum launch presentation slide deck. Better still, explore the data for yourself, discover insights most relevant to your setting, and dive deeper into this this year’s findings, please do visit our to our members-only Data explorer. Do tell us what you think using the comment, discussion channels available to you.
