UCAS Classical applications data 1998-2000

UCAS data on applications in Classical subjects, 1998-2000

Graham Shipley

In September 2001 CUCD commissioned a data search from UCAS on applications in classical subjects for the years 1998-2000. (It was agreed not to ask for data before 1998 as methods of recording had changed and comparability was not assured.) The data was received in the form of an Excel table with 18,787 rows of data measuring nine variables by year:

degree code category (1-15)
age (separate years 18 to 24, 25-9, 30-9, 40+)
gender
social class (professional, intermediate, skilled non-manual, skilled manual, partly skilled, unskilled)
home/overseas
previous education establishment type (the sub-categories listed under the next heading)
previous education establishment sector:
- A Maintained (comprehensive; grammar school; other secondary school; sixth form centre; special school)
- B Independent (independent school)
- G Grant Maintained (grant maintained, formerly independent) grant maintained, special school; grant maintained state sec.)
- H Further/Higher Education (agricultural & horticultural college; art design & performing art; further education; sixth form college; technical college; tertiary college)
- X Other (adult college; city tech, college; language school)
ethnic group (Asian, black, white, other)
region of domicile (A North East, B Yorks & The Humber, C Merseyside, D East Midlands, E West Midlands, F Eastern, G Greater London, H South East, I South West, J Wales, K Northern Ireland, L Scotland, W EU, X other overseas)

I then did some further analysis of the data received in the UCAS tables, and for comparison analysed the aggregate data for humanities and language subjects available from the UCAS website. (Unfortunately it is not possible to get education sector data by subject in this way - which is why CUCD commissioned its own data search.) The tables and charts following represent a preliminary analysis of the data.

UCAS code groups

I researched all UCAS degree codes (several hundred) with classics, classical, ancient history, or modern Greek in their titles. Often the same code covers degrees with slightly different titles and, presumably, content. (The data also include a few non-classical joint degrees with the same UCAS codes as joint degrees with Classics or Ancient History.) In order to satisfy UCAS's requirements about confidentiality, degree codes had to be grouped so that it would not be possible to make inferences about particular universities with distinctive courses attracting small numbers of applicants. Fifteen groups ('C_groups') were agreed between CUCD and UCAS:

Classics or classical combinations (no ancient history in title)
Ancient History, and Ancient History in classical combinations
Classics and science
Ancient History and science
Classical and social science etc.
Ancient History and social science etc.
Classics and English
Ancient History and English
Classics and French/German/Italian/Spanish
Ancient History and French/German/Italian/Spanish
Classics and other languages/cultures
Ancient History and other languages/cultures
Other Classical non-AH combinations
Other Ancient History non-classical combinations
Modern Greek studies without classical component

Significance of the data

Jim Wilkins (Department of Data & Analytical Services, UCAS) advises:

Count of Applicants is based upon a student having made at least one application to the "C_Group" being examined. For example a student who applied (original choices on the application form) 3 times to C_Group1 courses, 2 times to C_Group2 courses and once to a C_group3 course would be counted as a single applicant to each of the C_Groups 1, 2 & 3. Caution should be exercised, as clearly some students will be counted in more than one C_Group.

Thus we cannot unravel exact numbers of applicants from the data supplied, but only numbers of applications,. A typical row of the data reads: '[group] 14, [age] 18, Male, Intermediate, Home, Sixth Form College, H Further/Higher Education, White, H South East, 1999, 9 [applications]' - i.e. there were nine applications from students of that description in the South East in 1999. There were therefore not 18,787 applicants, or even applications, between 1998 and 2000, but a larger number of applications (actually 27,856) and an unknown number of applicants (presumably fewer than 18,787).

Note that in the tables percentages usually add up along rows, except in the last column, where they add up down the column.

I. Analysis of UCAS Data Search

1998 home applications by classical element

The first two columns show the degree components; e.g. Cl + Cl/AH means either a wholly Classics degree or Classics with Ancient History.
'sci' = science, 'soc' social science, 'En' English, 'ML' modern languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish), 'lang' other languages or cultures.

		Maint	%	Indep	%	GM	%	FE/HE	%	oth/unk	%	Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	178	17	514	49	106	10	174	16	85	8	1,057
AH	AH/Cl	239	34	157	22	67	9	182	26	65	9	710
		417	24	671	38	173	10	356	20	150	8	1,767	20

Cl	sci	6		1		4		6		5		22
Cl	soc	15		10		2		15		5		47
Cl	En	61		80		25		71		16		253
Cl	ML	19		39		8		10		8		84
Cl	lang	117		101		34		130		37		419
Cl	non-AH	147		147		45		114		57		510
		365	27	378	28	118	9	346	26	128	10	1,335	15

AH	sci	34		7		5		33		8		87
AH	soc	461		155		139		466		156		1,377
AH	En	105		24		35		91		36		291
AH	ML	144		81		29		71		15		340
AH	lang	116		25		10		64		25		240
AH	non-Cl	963		387		332		923		271		2,876
		1,823	35	679	13	550	11	1,648	32	511	10	5,211	59

MG	non-Cl	162	31	86	16	56	11	182	34	42	8	528	6
		2,767	31	1,814	21	897	10	2,532	29	831	9	8,841	100

1999 home applications by classical element

		Maint	%	Indep	%	GM	%	FE/HE	%	oth/unk	%	Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	173	17	496	49	101	10	176	17	76	7	1,022
AH	AH/Cl	227	32	156	22	71	10	181	26	65	9	700
		400	23	652	38	172	10	357	21	141	8	1,722	20

Cl	sci	7		2		2		7		1		19
Cl	soc	13		9		5		18		3		48
Cl	En	64		81		29		60		19		253
Cl	ML	14		35		2		9		4		64
Cl	lang	99		103		39		135		36		412
Cl	non-AH	114		152		56		139		61		522
		311	24	382	29	133	10	368	28	124	9	1,318	15

AH	sci	27		8		2		37		7		81
AH	soc	460		156		140		404		142		1,302
AH	En	110		30		31		109		29		309
AH	ML	134		96		47		53		17		347
AH	lang	114		26		11		49		16		216
AH	non-Cl	884		373		326		856		301		2,740
		1,729	35	689	14	557	11	1,508	30	512	10	4,995	59

MG	non-Cl	160	34	88	19	68	14	121	26	35	7	472	6
		2,600	31	1,811	21	930	11	2,354	28	812	10	8,507	100

2000 home applications by classical element

		Maint	%	Indep	%	GM	%	FE/HE	%	oth/unk	%	Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	165	18	431	47	111	12	141	15	65	7	913
AH	AH/Cl	226	34	155	23	64	10	163	24	59	9	667
		391	25	586	37	175	11	304	19	124	8	1,580	18

Cl	En	62		78		37		54		21		252
Cl	ML	18		42		5		14		7		86
Cl	lang	89		92		41		88		33		343
Cl	sci	5		5		2		2		2		16
Cl	soc	15		13		5		9		2		44
Cl	non-AH	160		158		67		138		70		593
		349	26	388	29	157	12	305	23	135	10	1,334	16

AH	En	135		25		26		81		19		286
AH	ML	164		83		35		61		14		357
AH	lang	143		32		19		75		22		291
AH	sci	21		3		3		26		7		60
AH	soc	517		183		132		414		128		1,374
AH	non-Cl	1,014		400		299		867		284		2,864
		1,994	38	726	14	514	10	1,524	29	474	9	5,232	61

MG	non-Cl	145	32	88	19	54	12	125	28	40	9	452	5
		2,879	33	1,788	21	900	10	2,258	26	773	9	8,598	100

1998 home applications

	Maint	Indep	GrantM	FE/HE	oth/unkn	total
pure Cl/AH	417	671	173	356	150	1,767
oth Cl comb	365	378	118	346	128	1,335
oth AH comb	1,823	679	550	1,648	511	5,211
MG non-Cl	162	86	56	182	42	528
	2,767	1,814	897	2,532	831	8,841

1999 home applications

	Maint	Indep	GrantM	FE/HE	oth/unkn	total
pure Cl/AH	400	652	172	357	141	1,722
oth Cl comb	311	382	133	368	124	1,318
oth AH comb	1,729	689	557	1,508	512	4,995
MG non-Cl	160	88	68	121	35	472
	2,600	1,811	930	2,354	812	8,507

2000 home applications

	Maint	Indep	GrantM	FE/HE	oth/unkn	total
pure Cl/AH	391	586	175	304	124	1,580
oth Cl comb	349	388	157	305	135	1,334
oth AH comb	1,994	726	514	1,524	474	5,232
MG non-Cl	145	88	54	125	40	452
	2,879	1,788	900	2,258	773	8,598

						25,946

By gender

	F	%	M	%	total
1998	5,517	58	3,988	42	9,505
1999	5,385	59	3,748	41	9,133
2000	5,310	58	3,908	42	9,218
					27,856

By age

	U-20	%	20-24	%	25-29	%	30-39	%	40+	%	total
1998	7,570	80	1,039	11	292	3	385	4	219	2	9,505
1999	7,441	81	921	10	272	3	312	3	187	2	9,133
2000	7,628	83	1,001	11	200	2	231	3	158	2	9,218
											27,856

By ethnic group

	Asian	%	Black	%	White	%	Other	%	Unkn	%	total
1998	203	2	97	1	7,878	83	123	1	1,204	13	9,505
1999	216	2	83	1	7,699	84	125	1	1,010	11	9,133
2000	228	2	95	1	7,698	84	150	2	1,047	11	9,218
											27,856

By region

	NE	Yor/Hum	Mers	NW	E Mid	W Mid	E Eng	G Lon	SE	SW	Wal	NI	Sco	EU	OS	total
1998	250	493	300	672	382	721	803	1,278	1,633	778	442	433	656	482	182	9,505
1999	217	479	255	623	386	665	804	1,316	1,564	789	433	357	619	439	187	9,133
2000	302	534	235	670	375	659	757	1,263	1,478	789	493	440	603	407	213	9,218
																27,856

By larger region

	North	Mid/E	GLon/SE	SW	Wal	NI	Sco	EU	OS
1998	1,715	1,906	2,911	778	442	433	656	482	182	9,505
1999	1,574	1,855	2,880	789	433	357	619	439	187	9,133
2000	1,741	1,791	2,741	789	493	440	603	407	213	9,218
										27,856

1998 overseas applications by classical element

The first two columns show the degree components; e.g. Cl + Cl/AH means either a wholly Classics degree or Classics with Ancient History.
'sci' = science, 'soc' social science, 'En' English, 'ML' modern languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish), 'lang' other languages or cultures.

		A Maint.	B Indep	G Grant Maint'd	H FE/HE	x Other	y Not known	Grand Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	1	9	2	14		24	50
AH	AH/Cl	2	3		10		16	31
								81	12
Cl	sci	2			2		1	5
Cl	soc	6	12	10	32		48	108
Cl	En	2		2	7		20	31
Cl	ML	3	10	4	10		16	43
Cl	lang	1	2	2	11		18	34
Cl	non-AH	8	15	7	48	1	67	146
								367	55
AH	sci	1	2		2		3	8
AH	soc		4		5	2	16	27
AH	En	1					3	4
AH	ML		5	2	14	1	14	36
AH	lang	3	6	2	20		22	53
AH	non-Cl	8	12	11	29	1	27	88
								216	33
MG	non-Cl							-
		38	80	42	204	5	295	664	100

1999 overseas applications by classical element

		A Maint.	B Indep	G Grant Maint'd	H FE/HE	x Other	y Not known	Grand Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	1	9	4	13		18	45
AH	AH/Cl	3	6	2	8		10	29
								74	12
Cl	sci	1	1		1		1	4
Cl	soc	3	9	16	21		41	90
Cl	En	3	3	3	3		15	27
Cl	ML	2	4	8	13		16	43
Cl	lang	1	4	1	5		9	20
Cl	non-AH	11	14	18	47	1	82	173
								357	57
AH	sci		1	1	2		1	5
AH	soc		2	2	6		3	13
AH	En		2	1	2			5
AH	ML	3	5		12		10	30
AH	lang	1	13	7	11	1	31	64
AH	non-Cl	1	9	3	24	1	40	78
								195	31
MG	non-Cl							-
		30	82	66	168	3	277	626	100

2000 overseas applications by classical element

		A Maint.	B Indep	G Grant Maint'd	H FE/HE	x Other	y Not known	Grand Total	%
Cl	Cl/AH	1	12	3	9		30	55
AH	AH/Cl	1	4	2	5		7	19
								74	12
Cl	sci			1			2	3
Cl	soc		3		1		2	6
Cl	En		1		4		2	7
Cl	ML		2		5		4	11
Cl	lang	1	6	2	7		13	29
Cl	non-AH	2	12	3	10		31	58
								114	18
AH	sci	1		1	5		2	9
AH	soc	3	13	6	33		48	103
AH	En	4	3	1	6		13	27
AH	ML	1	2	3	13		18	37
AH	lang	3	5	1	8		9	26
AH	non-Cl	9	20	7	44		65	145
								347	56
MG	non-Cl	2	18	5	26		34	85	14
		28	101	35	176	-	280	620	100

Some preliminary observations

There was a slight drop in many sectors in 1999, partially regained in 2000. There is a fall in numbers applying to 'pure' Classics/Ancient History degrees in 1999 and 2000 in all education sectors except grant-maintained (c. 10% of the total): overall, 1,767 to 1,722 (2.5% down on 1998) to 1,580 (8.2% down on 1999); a total fall in two years of 10.6%. On the other hand, Classics and Ancient History non-Classical joint degrees, after a drop in 1999, are exactly where they were in 1998 (0% down).
Non-classical joint Ancient History courses dominate heavily in all three years (59-61%). In terms of social class, relatively much greater numbers of Intermediate, Skilled Non-manual, and Skilled Manual applications are made to non-classical joint Ancient History courses than to 'pure' Classical courses or Classical joint courses.
There is a remarkable consistency across the three years in the proportions of applications from gender groups, ethnic groups, and different educational backgrounds:
- Courses as a whole consistently attract 58% female, 42% male.
- They consistently attract 80% under-20s, 11% 20-24s, 3% 25-29s, 4% 30s, 2% older.
- They consistently attract 2% Asian, 1% black, 84% white, 1% other, 13% unknown ethnic group.
- Consistently, 31% of applications are from Greater London and SE, 38% North/Midlands/E. England, 24% rest of UK, 5% western Europe, 2% overseas.
- There is more variation between years in the proportions of applications from different UK sub-regions, but almost none in greater regions.
There is an apparent decline in Modern Greek applications in 1999 and again 2000 (in all, 14% down); and an apparent sudden shift of EU/OS applications in 2000 from classical courses to joint Ancient History (and possibly Modern Greek?).

II. Analysis by age, gender, class, domicile, sector, ethnicity, region

For the following analysis, degrees have been grouped into (A) pure classics, (B) joint classical non-Ancient History, (C) joint Ancient History non-classical, and (D) modern Greek non-classical.

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and age

(Includes non-UK applications)

	17-20	21-24	25-29	30-39	40+	total
A	4,817	235	90	90	66	5,298
B	3,841	247	96	97	65	4,346
C	13,903	959	539	703	405	16,509
D	1,484	114	39	38	28	1,703
total	24,045	1,555	764	928	564	27,856
Percentages
A	91	4	2	2	1	100
B	88	6	2	2	1	100
C	84	6	3	4	2	100
D	87	7	2	2	2	100

Group A receives the fewest, and group C the most, applications from students aged 21 or over (9% and 16% respectively).

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and gender

(Includes non-UK applications)

	F	%	M	%	total
A	2,872	54	2,426	46	5,298
B	2,901	67	1,445	33	4,346
C	9,270	56	7,239	44	16,509
D	1,168	69	535	31	1,703
total	16,211	58	11,645	42	27,856

* Includes non-UK applications

Perhaps surprisingly, whereas groups A and C receive a little over half their applications from females (54% and 56% resp.), groups B and D (joint classics non-AH, and modern Greek) are much more female-led (67% and 69% respectively).

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and social class

(Includes non-UK applications)

	Prof	Intermed	Sk non-M	Sk Man	Partly Sk	Unskilled	not known	total
A	1,085	2,303	602	518	230	58	502	5,298
B	764	1,834	484	438	216	48	562	4,346
C	2,270	6,501	2,022	2,136	1,081	279	2,220	16,509
D	240	686	151	218	92	24	292	1,703
total	4,359	11,324	3,259	3,310	1,619	409	3,576	27,856
Percentages
A	20	43	11	10	4	1	9	100
B	18	42	11	10	5	1	13	100
C	14	39	12	13	7	2	13	100
D	14	40	9	13	5	1	17	100
	16	41	12	12	6	1	13	100

There is a significant variation in the class backgrounds of applicants: e.g. 63% of applications to pure classics degrees come from Professional or Intermediate (the 'top' two social classes), 60% of joint classical non-AH, 53% of joint AH non-classical, 54% of modern Greek (there is, however, a large proportion of 'unknown' in this dataset, from 9 to 17%). It is clear, however, that joint AH non-classical degrees receive relatively twice as many applications from the 'lowest' two social classes, partly skilled and unskilled (if the figures are to be believed and the 'unknowns' are discounted): viz. 9% compared with 5%.

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and domicile

	UK	%	non-UK	%	total
A	5,069	96	229	4	5,298
B	3,987	92	359	8	4,346
C	15,438	94	1,071	6	16,509
D	1,452	85	251	15	1,703
	25,946	93	1,910	7	27,856

Pure classics attracts relatively the fewest applications from non-UK students (4%), joint classics twice as many (8%), joint AH in between (6%), and modern Greek the most (15%) - though there is a suspicious shortfall in the modern Greek non-EU figures, which are probably seriously under-counted in two of the three years.

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and educational sector

�

	Maintained	Independent	GrantMaint	FE/HE	Other	not known	total
A	1,217	1,952	533	1,076	12	508	5,298
B	1,037	1,212	429	1,120	14	534	4,346
C	5,610	2,211	1,711	4,989	71	1,917	16,509
D	478	301	197	507	8	212	1,703
	8,342	5,676	2,870	7,692	105	3,171	27,856
Percentages
A	23	37	10	20	0	10	100
B	24	28	10	26	0	12	100
C	34	13	10	30	0	12	100
D	28	18	12	30	0	12	100
	30	20	10	28	0	11	100

Pure classics attracts the largest proportion of independent sector applications (37%), followed by joint classics non-AH (28%), modern Greek non-classical (18%), and joint AH non-classical (only 13%)---a really striking difference, especially when one considers that the last group represents three-fifths of all applications to classical courses. Similarly, pure classics attracts the smallest proportion (20%) of its applications from the FE/HE backgrounds, joint AH non-classical and modern Greek both attracting many more (30%) with joint classics somewhere in the middle (26%) [of all FE/HE applicants, 42% are from sixth form colleges, 35% from 'Art Design & Performing Arts', 14% from 'further education', and 7% from 'tertiary colleges']. All groups of degrees attract roughly equal proportions of their applications from grant-maintained schools (10-12%).

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and ethnic group

	Asian	black	white	other	unknown	total
A	111	32	4,628	73	454	5,298
B	116	57	3,532	82	559	4,346
C	371	158	13,857	215	1,908	16,509
D	49	28	1,258	28	340	1,703
	647	275	23,275	398	3,261	27,856
Percentages
A	2	1	87	1	9	100
B	3	1	81	2	13	100
C	2	1	84	1	12	100
D	3	2	74	2	20	100
	2	1	84	1	12	100

Joint non-classical and modern Greek attract slightly more black and Asian applicants than the rest (4-5% as against 3%), though there is a large and variable number of applicants of unknown ethnic group (from 9% to 20% of applications)

All applications, 1998-2000 by degree group and region

	A NE	B Yo/ Hum	C Mers	C	NW	D E Midl	E W Midl	F Eastn	G	G Lon	H SE	I SW	J Wal	K NI	L Sco	W EU	X oth OS	total
A	142	250	99	349	176	342	469	915	1,031	509	226	325	236	165	64	5,298
B	103	232	55	249	140	317	409	781	800	309	101	216	275	246	113	4,346
C	463	901	549	1,249	761	1,277	1,371	1,959	2,558	1,407	962	665	1,316	722	349	16,509
D	61	123	87	118	66	109	115	202	286	131	79	24	51	195	56	1,703
	769	1,506	790	1,965	1,143	2,045	2,364	3,857	4,675	2,356	1,368	1,230	1,878	1,328	582	27,856
Percentages
A	3	5	2	7	3	6	9	17	19	10	4	6	4	3	1	100
B	2	5	1	6	3	7	9	18	18	7	2	5	6	6	3	100
C	3	5	3	8	5	8	8	12	15	9	6	4	8	4	2	100
D	4	7	5	7	4	6	7	12	17	8	5	1	3	11	3	100
	3	5	3	7	4	7	8	14	17	8	5	4	7	5	2	100
Percentages of each region
A	18	17	13	18	15	17	20	24	22	22	17	26	13	12	11	19
B	13	15	7	13	12	16	17	20	17	13	7	18	15	19	19	16
C	60	60	69	64	67	62	58	51	55	60	70	54	70	54	60	59
D	8	8	11	6	6	5	5	5	6	6	6	2	3	15	10	6
	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Pure classics is dominated more strongly than the rest by the South-East (19%), London (17%), the South-East (10%), eastern England (9%), followed by the North-West (7%), the West Midlands and - perhaps interestingly - Northern Ireland (6%) each.
Joint classics non-AH has a similar proportion from the London and the SE (18% each), but other applications are more evenly spread over the country (9% Eastern England, 7% each from W Midlands and South-West; 6% each from North-West, Scotland, and the EU)
Joint AH non-classical is even less strongly dominated by London and the SE (12% and 15% resp.), with 9% from the SW and 8% each from the NW, the W Midlands, E England, and Scotland
Modern Greek non-classical attracts 17% from the SE, 12% from London, 11% from the EU, and 8% from the SW, with 7% each from Yorks/Humber, the NW, and E England
Some observations on the applications from each region (of course dominated by joint AH non-classical in each region):
- The preference for joint AH non-classical is most marked in Wales and Scotland (both 70% of all applicants to classical courses), closely followed by Merseyside (69%) and the East Midlands (67%). It is weakest among EU applicants (54%) and those from the SE (55%), N. Ireland (54%) and Greater London (51%).
- The preference for pure classics is strongest in Northern Ireland (26% of all applicants), followed by Greater London (24%), the SE, (22%), and the SW (22%); it is weakest among non-EU applicants (11%), followed by the EU (12%), Scotland and Merseyside (both 13%), and the East Midlands (15%)
- Though the figures for joint classical non-AH degrees are less variable, they are strongest in Greater London (20%), the EU and overseas (both 19%), and N. Ireland (18%) and weakest in Merseyside and Wales (both 7%) with no other region falling below 12% (that one is the East Midlands)
- The figures for modern Greek non-classical are strongest among non-UK applicants and on Merseyside, followed generally by the Home Counties, Yorkshire, and the North-East, and weakest in N. Ireland and Scotland.

III. Comparative data from all humanities & languages (2000)

Only data for 2000 has been analysed, as the classical data were so consistent across three years.

V = humanities
QRT = languages and related disciplines

2000 applications by gender

	M	F	total
V	5,321	6,023	11,344
QRT	5,297	13,376	18,673
	10,618	19,399	30,017

V%	47	53	100
QRT%	28	72	100

2000 applications by social class - Home (UK) applicants only

	Professnl	Intermed	Skilled Man	Skilled NM	Partly Sk	Unskilled	Unknown	total
V	1900	4364	1138	1168	548	172	900	10190
QRT	1730	4386	1094	1232	562	160	780	9944
	3630	8750	2232	2400	1110	332	1680	20134

V%	19	43	11	11	5	2	9	100
QRT%	17	44	11	12	6	2	8	100

2000 applications by age

	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25-29	30-39	40+	total
V	208	6,514	2,340	550	271	161	98	79	300	440	383	11,344
QRT	371	11,178	3,810	983	431	297	206	155	442	490	310	18,673
total	579	17,692	6,150	1,533	702	458	304	234	742	930	693	30,017

V%	2	57	21	5	2	1	1	1	3	4	3	100
QRT%	2	60	20	5	2	2	1	1	2	3	2	100

Grouped figures for under-20s and 20-24s:

	U-20	20-24
V	9,062	1,159
QRT	15,359	2,072
total	24,421	3,231

V%	80	10
QRT%	82	11

2000 applicants by ethnic group - Home (UK) applicants only

Total	Asian	Black	White	other	unknown	total
V	174	70	9,338	116	492	10,190
QRT	268	104	8,910	178	484	9,944
Total	442	174	18,248	294	976	20,134

V%	2	1	92	1	5	100
QRT%	3	1	90	2	5	100

2000 Home/EU/OS applicants

	UK	EU	OS	total
V	10,839	277	228	11,344
QRT	17,345	873	455	18,673
	28,184	1,150	683	30,017

V%	96	2	2	100
QRT%	93	5	2	100

2000 applications by educational sector (all subjects)

	Maint	Indep	GMaint	FE/HE	oth	unknown	total
	102,794	35,160	31,592	144,089	1,681	73,775	389,091
%	26	9	8	37	0	19	100

Some observations from the comparison of the data for classical subjects with the above figures for humanities and languages as a whole:

Classical degrees generally have much higher independent sector applications than all subjects (21% in the year 2000, as against 9% generally); 'pure' classics degrees have a much higher proportion of independent sector applications (37%) than joint classics (29%) or joint ancient history degrees (14%).
The percentage of female applicants (58% in 2000) is higher than the figure for all 'V' degrees (humanities, including most joint AH courses), which have 53%, but much lower than for 'QRT' degrees generally (language-based, including most classics and joint classics courses) which have 72% female; this could be because of the predominance of joint AH applications in our dataset.
Applications by age are in line with humanities generally. V degrees generally attract slightly more applications from those aged 25+ than language-based degrees; further analysis of our UCAS datasearch would be needed to clarify this, but again it seems likely that the joint AH numbers are bringing the total into line with V degrees, and it is possible that classics degrees are attracting fewer mature students.
Applications by ethnic group are also in line with humanities generally, though one would expect slightly more applications from ethnic minorities in language-based studies than in humanities on the basis of the national data.
407 out of 8,598 applications to all classical degrees in 2000 were from the EU, or 5%; 213 were from non-EU countries, or 2%; this is close to language-based degrees generally, which recruit the same, whereas humanities degrees generally recruit only 2% EU and 2% OS; so in this case it is likely that the numerically dominant joint AH applications are themselves recruiting more EU students than subjects in general.

Graham Shipley

University of Leicester

Bulletin Contents CUCD Home Royal Holloway Classics Dept
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