New interactive map signals stark warning about regional access to SHAPE subjects in higher education

Explore the Mapping SHAPE provision map

For over a decade, UK universities have weathered a series of complex and compounding challenges. In towns and cities, in rural and coastal areas across all four nations, higher education providers have faced numerous obstacles: a pandemic, Brexit and shifting geopolitical tides. All of this has unfolded during a growing financial crisis in the sector, despite steadily rising numbers of UK students starting an undergraduate degree. Every day we hear of another university forced to close courses to cut costs. And subjects in the arts, humanities and social sciences – also known as SHAPE – are among the hardest hit.

With a news cycle focussed on individual universities, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, to zoom out and examine the wider impact. And talk of a 'crisis' in higher education risks giving the impression that all universities everywhere are feeling the same effects, and that these effects are inevitable.

No two universities are alike: each is deeply rooted in an individual community and place and makes a unique offer to its students. When students apply for university, they don’t just decide what subject to study – they also base their decision on a university’s location and its reputation, among other things. And disadvantaged students are much more likely to remain in their local area for undergraduate study, and more likely to access higher education through lower-tariff institutions – so it really matters what they can study and where. Understanding the landscape of subject provision at regional level, then, is essential.

At the British Academy, we have been busy building data-driven tools to monitor changes and put them in context. Mapping what students are studying and where helps us understand what impact a decade of major change has had to our universities and to student access to SHAPE subjects.

Today, we launch the latest interactive map in our Mapping SHAPE Provision project. Using data from the Higher Educational Statistical Agency (HESA), we have visually tracked trends in subject provision at individual universities. The map shows which SHAPE subjects first-year, first-degree undergraduates under the age of 20 and living in the UK are studying – and where – between 2011/12 up to 2022/23, the most recent data available. Zoom in on the map, and you can see provision in different subjects in any given area: isolate by provider, see where institutions cluster, filter by year or tariff level, or compare how the picture has changed from year to year. Users can also now select or deselect providers in a region, allowing them to see what would happen if an individual university withdrew courses in a particular subject. This map builds on our work mapping ‘cold spots’– areas with no or reduced provision of a given SHAPE subject within a commutable distance.

The maps paint a complex and deeply uneven regional picture. For example, across the UK, the number of students studying a Modern European Language like French, German or Italian has more than halved, despite how important they are to both the UK’s economic growth and capacity to respond to global challenges. But trends vary by nation. In Scotland, the number of students studying traditional Humanities subjects like History and English Literature and Language has increased or stayed constant. The opposite is true in England. Scotland also sees student numbers in Classics on the rise as of 2022/23. In England and Wales, the numbers have decreased. And in Northern Ireland, there is no provision for Classics at all – a stark cold spot in provision and access.

Some of the most striking findings come when we look at universities in the same city or region. Where the cold spots data shows lack of provision, this new student data layer lets us see what’s happening in areas where provision is dense but unevenly distributed. In subjects with big overall increases in take-up – like Business and Management, Law or Psychology – some universities are still reporting fewer students on their courses, even while neighbouring providers see massive percentage increase.

What the maps don’t show is the context. They don’t tell us why one university has seen student numbers on a course increase while another sees numbers drop. Major policy changes like the removal of student number controls in England, for instance, will have had significant impact. The maps also don’t tell us how many applications were received versus acceptances, or how a university’s financial picture might impact what they can offer to students. Nor do they tell us why students study a subject or choose one provider over another. After all, we know their choices are informed by all sorts of factors, often beyond their control: their socioeconomic background, advice from parents, teachers or guardians, and the subject options available to them at school or college. Higher education, after all, is not a pure market reacting to objective demand but one which is shaped by its relationships to other forms of education, the media and politics. What these maps do show is a stark warning about the future of regional access to many SHAPE subjects. The harmful rhetoric of successive governments about the value of these subjects has undoubtedly contributed to fewer students studying them. Even if we don’t always fully know why student numbers are falling at one university in one area, year-on-year decreases make that provision more vulnerable to closure if a university faces tough financial decisions.

Disadvantaged students will be hardest hit by cuts to SHAPE courses. Many don’t have the option to study somewhere else. Others require SHAPE courses that are best suited to a particular tariff-level or a specialist provider type. That’s not to mention the economic impact of further closures, and the knock-on effects on local knowledge, skills and research infrastructure that most regions cannot afford to lose.

With more interactive tools in the pipeline, Mapping SHAPE Provision will continue to harness data to help inform debate about the future of higher education and the SHAPE subjects. In doing so, we hope to offer a powerful evidence base to advocate for the health, diversity and vitality of our universities, and to secure the future of student access to these vital disciplines.

Explore the Mapping SHAPE provision map