Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students have completed their studies in the UK over the last 20 years at (1) undergraduate, (2) taught masters courses, and (3) doctorate level in the following disciplines: (a) health economics, and (b) medical data analytics or related disciplines.

The Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) collects data on students enrolled and qualifying from courses at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including information on subject of study.

Data on numbers of students qualifying from undergraduate, taught masters and doctorate level courses in these subjects is provided in the tables attached for each year from 2007/08 to 2015/16. Prior to 2007/08, the low-level subject classification was provided by HEIs on a voluntary basis and as such, counts of students studying each of these subjects are not provided because they would not give a consistent picture of the total number of students over time. Data for 2016/17 will become available in January 2018.

The Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) is the classification of subjects used by HESA. The closest classification to “molecular biology, biochemistry and related disciplines” is “molecular biology, biophysics & biochemistry”, which has a JACS code of C7.

Medicinal chemistry has a JACS code of F150. The closest available classification to “biostatistics and medical statistics” or to “medical data analytics” is “medical statistics”, which has a JACS code of G311. These are detailed level codes and some universities may occasionally allocate students to more general codes. These codes are chosen by HEIs to best describe the course studied in its totality.

An appropriate classification is not available for “regulatory science” or “health economics” and hence figures for these subjects have not been provided. Further information on the most appropriate subject classification for a particular subject can be obtained by contacting HESA.

More information on JACS codes can be found at: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs/jacs3-detailed.