Part 7 Appendix

School leaver statistics

According to 2011 census data on England11, 880,461 out of a total 10,022,836 children aged 0-15 were Muslim (around 9%). Assuming a negligible impact of immigration, around 9% of 11-26 year olds in England in 2022 are Muslim, and assuming further a uniform distribution of Muslim representation across this age category, around 9% of 18 year olds are Muslim in 2022.

According to Census data on England and Wales12, 6,632,461 children are aged 0-9 in 2011. Assuming a negligible impact of immigration, and a uniform distribution of age across this age category, there are approximately 660,000 18 year olds in England and Wales in 2022.

Combining these statistics, there are estimated to be approximately 60,000 Muslims in England and Wales aged 18 in 202213.

According to entrants data from the OfS14, there are 454,700 UK domiciled entrants onto first-degree undergraduate programmes in 2020-21, of which 49,480 are Muslim. Assuming 2017-2020 growth rates of UK domiciled first degree undergraduate entrants (5% for the total population and 11% for Muslims), there are around 477,000 UK domiciled entrants onto first degree undergraduate programmes in 2021-22, of which 54,000 are Muslim (around 11%).

Combining census data with entrants data from the OfS, it is possible to approximate the fraction of the total population of 18 year olds in England and Wales that go to university at 72% and the equivalent figure amongst Muslims at 90%.

  1. https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/LC2107EW/view/2092957699?rows=c_age&cols=c_relpuk11↩︎

  2. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/age-groups/latest↩︎

  3. This figure will be updated using 2022 census data once released↩︎

  4. https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/equality-diversity-and-student-characteristics-data/get-the-data/↩︎