Enrolment in humanities courses is holding up in the UK despite concern about their supposed declining popularity in an employability-focused environment, data released by the Office for Students (OfS) shows.

Humanities courses have borne the brunt of a wave of closures and redundancies across the UK as universities have sought to cut costs, with falling enrolments a typical rationale for such decisions. But the OfS’ prototype “” suggests the picture might be less dismal for the humanities overall than experts fear.

Between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 admissions cycles, student loan take-up for historical, philosophical and religious studies increased 1 per cent, the tool reveals. Nonetheless, the slight recovery follows years of decline, with the 39,985 enrolments in these courses in 2021-22 falling to 37,185 in 2025-26.

By contrast, social studies-related enrolments have increased slightly, from 140,350 students in 2021-22 to 140,450 this year, with a 6 per cent rise over the most recent period.

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The OfS tool is intended to provide insights into supply and demand for university subjects across England at a regional level and across the UK.

Analysis by the British Academy last year showed that students in parts of the north, south west and east of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts courses amid the closures and layoffs. It revealed that large parts of the country – often rural, coastal or historically underserved regions – are already “cold spots” for provision in many of these subjects, meaning that no courses are available within a commutable distance of 60km.

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While the drop in humanities numbers might be less severe than feared, the OfS tracker does show a considerable jump in student loan take-up for subjects more directly connected to a line of work.

Law, for instance, experienced a 9 per cent rise in loan applications between 2024-25 and 2025-26, with engineering and technology applications increasing 8 per cent and those for medicine and dentistry going up 3 per cent. But education and teaching experienced a 1 per cent drop.

And subjects within the category of design, creative and performing arts continued to decline, as they have done in student loan take-up every year since 2021-22. Between 2024-25 and 2025-26, they dropped 3 per cent.

Loan applications for language and area studies fell by the same amount. This tallies with findings released by the Higher Education Policy Institute on 17 September, which show that the pipeline for university language departments might be drying up because of a decline in schools’ language provision.

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The Language GCSEs in English schools: a postcode lottery? report shows that overall, only 4.2 per cent of non-selective state schools in England have an average of one language GCSE entry per pupil.

Megan Bowler, author of the policy note and lecturer in ancient Greek language and literature at the University of Oxford, said universities must react accordingly.

“Rather than making irreversible cuts to teaching and research, the higher education sector should adapt by expanding opportunities for students to study languages from scratch and alongside other subjects,” she said.

“Universities should likewise consider how they can mobilise their staff, students and expertise to revitalise the languages pipeline in local schools through outreach and mentoring schemes, and to promote the value of languages in the community.”

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On the launch of the OfS tool, Jean Arnold, interim director of quality and access at the OfS, said: “This important and exciting new tool will help build much greater understanding of where students study, what subjects are available and where students go after they graduate.

“It will help those charged with developing regional approaches to skills and research strategy to understand more about gaps in provision and how to ensure that higher education provision matches the skills local employers need and continues to offer the diversity in choice we know students value.” 

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georgia.luckhurst@timeshighereducation.com