June 2005/23 (web only)
Issues paper

This report is for information

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Staff employed at HEFCE funded HEIs

Trends, profiles and projections

The purpose of this document is to extend the findings of the 2002 report 'Academic staff: trends and projections' in support of HEFCE's higher education workforce development strategy.

Updates: HEFCE 2006/31 includes data from 2004-05 and HEFCE 2007/36 includes data from 2005-06.

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To:	Heads of HEFCE funded higher education institutions
Of interest to those responsible for:	Staff data, Planning, Human resources management
Reference:	2005/23
Publication date:	June 2005
Enquiries to:	Mark Gittoes tel 0117 931 7052 e-mail m.gittoes@hefce.ac.uk

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Table of contents and executive summary (read on-line)

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Contents

• Executive summary
• Introduction
  • Data source
  • Terminology
  • Overview
• Academic and assistant academic staff
  • Overall
  • Permanent academic staff: Trends and attributes
  • Permanent academic staff: Projections
• Professional and support staff
  • Overall
  • Attributes
  • Projections
• PhD starters and qualifiers
• Research assistants
• Guide to annexes
   
• Annex A: Population criteria and data definitions
• Annex B: Testing the previous report's projection model
• Annex C: Tables and figures for HEIs across the UK
• Annex D: Additional tables and figures for English HEIs
• Annex E: Additional tables and figures for HEIs across the UK

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Executive summary

Purpose

1.    This document extends the findings of the 2002 report 'Academic staff: trends and projections' (HEFCE 2002/43) in support of HEFCE's higher education workforce development strategy.

Key points

2.    In this report we give an overview of trends in academic staff at English higher education institutions (HEIs) from 1995-96 to 2003-04. It shows that for the permanent academic staff:

1. The number has steadily increased since 1997-98.
2. The proportion who are part-time increased from 5 per cent in 1995-96 to 10 per cent in 2003-04.
3. Although for the whole sector numbers have increased, there has been a decline in the numbers of chemistry, physics, engineering and mathematics staff over the period.
4. There has been a rise in the proportion in the higher grades during the period.
5. The proportion aged 50 or over remained the same from 1995-96 to 2003-04, although the proportion aged 55 or over increased.
6. the proportions of women, non-UK nationals, and staff from minority ethnic backgrounds have all risen steadily.

3.    We have also revisited the modelling completed in the previous report and provided academic staffing projections using 2003-04 as our base year. These projections show that (under particular assumptions):

1. Just over 6,000 recruits to permanent academic positions will be required each year from 2004-05 to 2010-11 to maintain 2003-04 levels.
2. Between 7,000 and 12,000 recruits may be required to keep in line with DfES target student numbers for the period 2004-05 and 2010-11.

4.    For the first time, we explored the attributes of professional and support staff:

1. The most frequent primary function for professional and support staff is as a support administrator.
2. The majority of professional and support staff are full-time (63 per cent).
3. There are varying age profiles depending on the primary function of the professional and support staff.
4. The most female-dominated function of professional and support staff is support administrator, where 83 per cent of staff are female.
5. 92 per cent of professional and support staff are from a white ethnic background.
6. Over 20,000 extra professional and support staff are projected to be needed in 2010-11 compared to 2003-04 levels.

5.    Trends in PhD starters and qualifiers are also examined. They show that:

1. The number of home-domiciled PhD starters remained steady between 1997-98 and 2001-02 at around 12,000 students per annum.
2. The number of home-domiciled qualifiers rose by around a third between 1995-96 and 2003-04.
3. The proportion of PhD starters who are home-domiciled decreased between 1997-98 (65 per cent) and 2001-02 (60 per cent).
4. The proportion of PhD starters with a first class degree in one of the two years prior to PhD entry has increased in line with an overall increase in the number of qualifiers with first class degrees.

6.    This report also examines the contract status of research assistants and finds that around 3 per cent moved from a temporary to permanent contract between 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Action required

7.    This report is for information.