文档介绍：Executive Summary
Higher Education Supply and Demand to 2010
Libby Aston
June 2003
Higher Education Policy Institute
Recent history of participation in higher education
This paper discusses higher education (HE) supply and demand to 2010: the supply of places in higher education institutions (HEIs) and the demand for higher education from students. It looks at supply and demand in terms of participation — and young participation in particular — and concludes by drawing implications for the Initial Entry Rate (IER) from its analysis of participation.
The participation rate in HE from 1994-95 to 1999-2000 pletely flat. However, indications are that since 1999-2000 participation may have picked up. The provisional Age Participation Index (API) figure for 2001-02, which is a measure of participation for 18 to 21 year-olds, is 35 per cent. This suggests an increase of 2 percentage points from 2000-01 and the first significant increase since the mid-1990s.
Recent API figures also report a further increase in the gap between male and female participation rates. Participation varies to an even greater extent across socio-economic classifications, and recent reports have also demonstrated the significant variation by region. The high participation rates of females, of the highest social class groups, and of the South East and London, all suggest the potential for a large increa