Education and Training Statistics for the UK: 2013, released on 7 November, shows that in 2011-12, women made up the greatest proportion of students in subjects allied to medicine (79 per cent) and education (78 per cent).
By contrast, the highest proportion of male students have been recorded in engineering and technology (84 per cent) and mathematics and computing science (76 per cent).
The most gender- balanced courses were those in business and administrative studies, and historical and philosophical studies.
Overall, 54 per cent of full-time students in 2011-12 were female.
Only in Northern Ireland was the proportion of male students greater than the proportion of females.
Meanwhile, of the more than 435,000 overseas students in UK higher education in the 2011-12 academic year, around 86 per cent were men.
Source: Department for Education, Education and Training Statistics for the UK: 2013