Social sciences, business and law most sought after subjects at tertiary level

Students in formal education during the academic year 2012/2013 amounted to 69,838, at par with previous year levels.

Data provided by the National Statistics Office shows that state-run institutions housed 70.1 per cent of total enrolments, while students attending Church and independent schools numbered 15,533 and 5,351 respectively. During 2012/2013, female students in tertiary education outnumbered males, and comprised 55.5 per cent of total tertiary students.

Total students enrolled in mandatory education during 2012/2013 stood at 46,376. Of these, 23,655 attended primary school, while 22,721 attended secondary school. In spite of an increase in total enrolments, students attending secondary schools dropped by 3.5 per cent over 2011/2012.

The average class size at primary level was lowest in state schools, followed by independent and Church schools. On the other hand, independent schools at secondary level held the smallest number of students per class.

During 2012/2013, 4.3 per cent of total students enrolled in formal education were foreigners. This results in an increase of 0.6 over the previous year. The highest proportion of foreign students was noted in tertiary education (5.9 per cent), while the largest increase (1.3 per cent) occurred in post-secondary vocational institutions. The majority of foreign students were EU nationals.

The most popular field of study among tertiary students was social sciences, business and law (33.5 per cent), followed by health and welfare (16.2 per cent) and science (14.8 per cent).

Engineering and science were mostly popular among male students, while females had a stronger presence in education, and health and welfare.

Social sciences, business and law was the most popular among students enrolled at ISCED levels 5 and 6, while health and welfare, and humanities and arts were the primary fields at ISCED 7 and 8 respectively.

In the vocational sphere, engineering, manufacturing and construction had the largest share of students (22.9 per cent), followed by science (20.8 per cent) and social sciences, business and law (16.1 per cent).

The most popular foreign language studied among students in ISCED 1 to 3 was Italian (54.2 per cent), followed by French (29.6 per cent), German and Spanish (both 7.1 per cent).