To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail (i) the number of full-time undergraduate students enrolled at the Northern Regional College Coleraine campus, in each academic year, since 2005; and (ii) any assessment her Department has made of the impact of changes in student numbers on the local economy and wider North West region.

The numbers of full-time undergraduate students enrolled at Northern Regional College’s (NRC’s) Coleraine Campus between 2013/14 and 2024/25 (the last academic year for which published data is available) are set out in the table below. There has been a 43% increase in these numbers since 2013/14.

Archived data held by my Department indicates that there were no students enrolled on Higher Education (HE) courses at NRC Coleraine between 2004/05 and 2012/13. NRC advised that in the absence of evidence for the period in question, they are unable to confirm provision of HE full-time curriculum at this Campus.

Number of full-time undergraduate students enrolled at the NRC Coleraine campus (2013/14 to 2024/25)

Full-time HE provision in NRC is complemented by Higher Level Apprenticeship (HLA) provision, but this is categorised as part-time and is therefore excluded from the figures above.

There has been an expansion of HE provision at NRC’s Coleraine campus post-COVID, aligned to curriculum strategy, and this contributes to retention of talent in the area, widens access to and participation in HE and provides a pathway into local employment, supporting regional economic priorities.