This data underscores how international online students form a significant part of the overall UK HE online education landscape. However, the trends and numbers do not quite match some of the more hyped-up language about the scale of the opportunity

This year has seen a more timely release of what is still backdated information on students in UK higher education. Early April saw the release of 2023–24 student data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), which, among other things, is a key data source for understanding online student and enrolment trends in UK HE.

This recent data release underscores once again that the domestic market for online education is still the largest and has experienced the most significant growth in recent years.

This is perhaps best demonstrated among UK-based online PGT students, as the 2022–23 HESA data release shows that 25% of all UK-based postgraduate students were studying via online distance learning in 2022–23.

It’s not been a great year for data in UK higher education (HE). Firstly, the key annual UK HE sector data compiled by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) has suffered multiple publication delays. We’re now expecting to get data on the 22/23 academic year in August. The horse has already bolted by the time we usually get it in January for the previous academic year, but it’s well and truly over the hills and far away now.