UK students going abroad as part of their degree in 2015/16
1. Notes
 The data used to develop this factsheet is derived from the Higher Education
Statistics Agency (HESA) student record.
 The data covers mobilities taking place in the 2015-16 academic year unless
otherwise stated.
 Analysis is based on UK-domiciled students unless otherwise stated.
2. Overview of participation rates
For the academic year 2015-16, institutions reported 40,635 instances of mobility to
HESA, among 36,395 students, of whom 27,405 were UK domiciled students.
Figure 1: Mobile students by domicile
non-EU, 4,430
EU, 4,560
UK, 27,405
UK
EU
non-EU
The 27,405 UK students who went abroad in 2015-16 represent 1.6% of all UK
students in that year. Most mobilities (95%) involved undergraduate students, mainly
in their second or third year of study. 3% of all 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate
students had a period of mobility in 2015-16.
Figure 2: Average proportion of students going abroad in 2015/16
Students
All students
UK-domiciled students
UK undergraduate students
2nd + 3rd year UK undergraduate students
Proportion mobile
1.60%
1.49%
1.72%
2.96%
Participation rates amongst UK students were highest in Northern Irish institutions,
followed by Scotland and Wales.
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Figure 3: Proportion of students going abroad by country of HE provider
Nation of
institution
Total UK domiciled Mobile UK
students
domiciled students
Proportion of
students
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
1,399,860
169,965
99,755
46,345
1.47%
2.09%
2.07%
2.61%
20,575
3560
2060
1210
3. Student profile
Gender
A majority of all mobile students are female - 59% compared to 41% male students.
However, 57.9% mobile students not studying languages were female. This closely
resembles the UK student population in 2015/16 57.3% of all UK domiciled students
were female.
Ethnicity
Various studies have shown that BME students and students from more disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to go abroad than their peers.
81.5% of all mobile students in 2015/16 identified as white, compared to 78.6% of the
total student population in that year. Black students were underrepresented in outward
mobility. 4.3% of mobile students were black, compared to 5.9% of the student
population.
Figure 4: mobile students by ethnicity
Ethnicity
Asian
Black
Other (including mixed)
Number of
mobile students
2210
1175
1455
% of all mobile
students
8.1%
4.3%
5.3%
% of all students
22325
245
81.5%
0.9%
78.6%
2.8%
White
Unknown
8.8%
5.9%
3.9%
Socio-economic background
In 2015/16 just over a quarter of mobile students came from the highest SEC
background.
Figure 5: mobile students by socio-economic classification
Socio-economic
Classification
Higher managerial &
professional occupations
Lower managerial &
professional occupations
Number of
mobile students
Percentage of all
mobile students
6880
25.1%
6870
25.1%
Intermediate occupations
2505
9.1%
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Small employers & own
account workers
Lower supervisory &
technical occupations
Semi-routine occupations
Routine occupations
Never worked & long-term
unemployed
Unknown
1430
5.2%
805
2.9%
2185
940
8.0%
3.4%
10
0.0%
5785
21.1%
4. What mobile students study
95% of all mobile students are undergraduate students.
Figure 6: mobile students by level of study
3% 2%
95%
Undergraduate
Postgraduate (research)
Postgraduate (taught)
Many instances of mobility involve language students. Language and literature
students accounted for more than one in five (21.9%) of all mobilities in 2015/16.
Figure 7: instances of mobility by subject group
Subject group
Languages, Literature and related
subjects
Business and Administrative studies
Social studies
Medicine and dentistry
Physical sciences
Creative Arts and Design
Linguistics, Classics and related
subjects
Historical and Philosophical studies
Biological Sciences
Instances of
mobility
7070
Proportion of all
mobilities
21.9%
3875
2885
2300
2130
1985
1965
12.0%
8.9%
7.1%
6.6%
6.1%
6.1%
1795
1665
5.6%
5.1%
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Engineering & technologies
Subjects allied to medicine
Law
Architecture, Building and Planning
Mass Communications and
Documentation
Education
Computer sciences
Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and
related subjects
Mathematics
Combined studies
1165
1100
1080
1075
590
3.6%
3.4%
3.3%
3.3%
1.8%
435
360
345
1.4%
1.1%
1.1%
310
175
1.0%
0.5%
Top 10 principal subjects by instances of mobility
1. French studies
6. Others in European languages
2. Clinical medicine
7. Architecture
3. Business studies
8. Politics
4. Spanish studies
9. English studies
5. Design studies
10. History by period
Top 10 principal subjects by instances of mobility, STEM subjects only
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Clinical medicine
Architecture
Physical geographical sciences
Pre-clinical medicine
Geology
6. Psychology
7. Nursing
8. Biology
9. Chemistry
10. Mechanical engineering
5. Where mobile students go
Figure 8: Instances of UK domiciled student mobility by destination
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Figure 9: Top 10 destinations amongst mobile UK students:
Instances Proportion
of
of all
mobilities mobilities
1. France
3,980
12.9%
2. Spain
3,805
12.3%
3. USA
3,615
11.7%
4. Germany
2,405
7.8%
5. Australia
1,645
5.3%
6. Italy
1,335
4.3%
7. Canada
1,200
3.9%
8. Netherlands
1,135
3.7%
9. China
845
2.7%
10. Ireland
495
1.6%
Country
6. What mobile students do
A majority (77%) of mobilities were to study, but one in five involved students
working abroad.
Figure 10: Instances of mobility amongst UK domiciled students by type
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20%
3%
77%
Study abroad
Volunteering
Work abroad
Note: some instances involved more than one type of mobility. The data represented
here represents the main type identified by the institution.
7. How long do students go abroad?
A majority of mobilities were for more than 20 weeks. Around 17% of mobilities
were for between one and three weeks.
Figure 11: Duration of instances of mobility
Duration of
mobility
1-3 weeks
4-7 weeks
8 - 20 weeks
21 - 40 weeks
41-60 weeks
Instances of
mobility
5,245
2,710
8,305
10,015
5,560
Proportion of all
instances of mobility
17.0%
8.8%
26.9%
32.5%
18.0%
A slightly higher proportion of mobilities amongst students from more disadvantaged
backgrounds were for a shorter period of time (1-3 weeks) when compared to those
from more advantaged backgrounds.
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Figure 12: Duration of students’ mobility by SEC group
Higher managerial & professional occupations
13%
10%
27%
35%
16%
Lower managerial & professional occupations
14%
7%
28%
36%
16%
Intermediate occupations
18%
8%
26%
Small employers & own account workers
18%
7%
26%
Lower supervisory & technical occupations
Semi-routine occupations
Routine occupations
22%
20%
6%
27%
8%
23%
25%
5%
28%
35%
34%
14%
16%
29%
16%
33%
15%
28%
16%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
1-3 weeks
4-7 weeks
8-20 weeks
21-40 weeks
41-60 weeks
Note: no information is provided on students from a “never worked & long-term
unemployed” as the sample size is too small.
8. Mobility schemes
Most mobilities were through either provider-led schemes (51%) or the EU’s Erasmus
+ programme (40%).
Figure 13: Instances of mobility by mobility scheme
ERASMUS+
40%
Provider
51%
Sandwich placement
4%
Other scheme
5%
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The top 5 destinations amongst mobile
students through Erasmus + were:
Country
France
Spain
Germany
Italy
Netherlands
The top 5 destinations amongst mobile
students through provider led
programmes were:
Instances of
mobility
3,365
2,820
1,710
815
715
Country
United States
Australia
Canada
Spain
China
Instances of
mobility
2,800
1,315
985
860
700
Further resources

Universities UK’s annual Gone International publication analyses mobile
students in particular graduating cohorts and their outcomes 6 months after
graduation. Reports have been published on the 2014-15, 2013-14, and 201213 graduating cohorts. All are available on the Go International website.
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