HND students' loss

Foundation degree students at higher education institutions outnumber those on higher national diploma courses, figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show. In 2004-05, the overall foundation degree cohort rose by 39.2 per cent compared with the previous year, to 29,260, while the total number of HND students dropped by 18.6 per cent to ,425.

Overall numbers on all sub-degree courses in higher education, including HNCs, rose by 0.8 per cent to 488,195.