Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many women have started courses in STEM subjects at university in each of the last five years.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education in the UK. Statistics broken down by subject area and sex are available in Figure 14 of the Statistical Bulletin published in January 2019, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/17-01-2019/sb252-higher-education-student-statistics/subjects.

Over the academic years 2013-14 to 2017-18, the number of female entrants to science subjects in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) has increased by 10% from 218,375 to 240,285. The number of male entrants to science subjects in UK HEIs has increased by 4% from 196,960 to 204,065.

Notes

• Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.
• Science subjects are defined by HESA as subject groups A to K under the JACS3 classification: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs/jacs3-detailed.
• Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.