BASR Response to the 2019 British Academy Report,

BASR Response to the 2019 British Academy Report, Theology and Religious Studies Provision in UK Higher Education.David G. Robertson with Jonathan Tuckett and Bettina Schmidt, and contributions from Wendy Dossett, Alexandra Grieser, Christopher Cotter, Stephen Gregg, Suzanne Owen and Stefanie Sinclair.

V3.1 | January 2021

Table of Contents

1 Foreword ..............................................................................3

2 Introduction ........................................................................42.1 Audiences and Aims .............................................52.2 Executive Summary ..............................................6

3 Theology and Religious Studies: A History of Entangled Disciplines .................................................10

4 Undergraduate Enrolment .......................................124.1 Context .....................................................................124.2 Method .....................................................................134.3 Analysis .....................................................................14

5 Employment ....................................................................20

6 Summary and Conclusions ......................................216.1 Summary ..................................................................216.2 Implications for HESA Codes ...........................216.3 Implications for the TRS ‘brand’ ......................21

7 Postscript ..........................................................................23

8 Appendices ......................................................................248.1 Appendix 1 | UCAS CODES .............................248.2 Appendix 2 | Enrolment Data ..........................28

Foreword • 3

1 Foreword

The British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR) is a long-established subject association in the UK (est. 1954) that represents scholars across the wide range of disciplines within the (secular) study of religions in all four nations of the UK.1 We are associate members of the International Association for the History of Religions and of the European Association for the Study of Religions, and represent our discipline on national and international platforms. While a growing number of universities are withdrawing their single honours programmes in Religious Studies and closing Religious Studies departments, members of the BASR are located in departments of humanities, cultural studies, human geography, media, philosophy and more. I am honoured to be the current President of the association that has become my academic home since 2004.

The publication of Theology and Religious Studies Provision in UK Higher Education by the British Academy in May 2019 took the BASR by surprise. While we learnt later that TRS-UK was informed of the project at an early stage, the BASR was not asked for comments on a draft before the publication. Most of our members learnt about the report about our discipline from the press, where the study of religions was buried, mixed up with theology and related disciplines. I was even contacted from colleagues in Germany and asked whether the study of religions in the UK was dead, referring to a report in a German newspaper. The British Academy organised a Round Table to discuss the report a few weeks later, which further demonstrated the lack of understanding of Religious Studies. The report, and the way it was sent to the press, has damaged all of us, not just Religious Studies. However, the lack of engagement with the diversity of the study of religions has clearly contributed to the current challenge in recruitment of undergraduate students in Religious Studies in particular.

The BASR decided to take another look at the data on which the report is based. Our response to the report paints a different picture of the situation of the study of religions in HEIs in the UK. While we accept some of the criticism that the report highlighted, it ignored what we offer, and will continue to offer — a dynamic study of religions that engages with religions, spiritualities and non-religious worldviews across the globe.

Professor Bettina Schmidt, President of the BASR

1 https://basr.ac.uk/about-basr/

Introduction • 4

2 Introduction

Theology and Religious Studies Provision in UK Higher Education (hereafter, the BA Report) was published by the British Academy on 23rd May, 2019, on their website.2 The British Academy presented this as a “pilot” study, to test the viability of such a study, with TRS chosen because it was a relatively small area.3 Its findings, which were immediately picked up by the press, were at first glance stark.4 Yet a number of our RS colleagues immediately voiced their reservations about the report’s findings.

The BA Report is presented as addressing Theology and Religious Studies, though it makes no differentiation between the disciplines, essentially ignoring their substantial and significant differences. Indeed, the opening line—“Theology, the study of the divine, is a discipline as old as the institution of the university”—is taken from the HESA’s official course descriptor for V610 Theology. It seems too that the conclusions refer particularly to Theology, rather than Religious Studies (hereafter, RS)—not an ancient discipline at all, but a post-War social science with roots in different academic traditions, including Sociology, History, Anthropology, and more.

This response to the BA Report (hereafter, BASR Response) sets out to counter some of these claims. We demonstrate that in eliding Theology and RS, the BA Report has critically misrepresented RS. We present data that shows that enrolment on single honours RS courses was rising until the introduction of fees in 2012, and the drop has since slowed. Moreover, joint honours courses with an RS component continue to grow. Yet a lack of clarity on HESA codes, a strategy to present a “united front” under the “TRS” banner, and the ongoing institutional predominance of Theology has obscured this fact.

By presenting Theology and RS in such a way, the BA Report endangered our discipline. It could have serious consequences for a field that is already under pressure—both externally, in suggesting to students that the degree is dying and so a risky choice, and internally, in swaying the decision-making of managers exercising

2 https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/theology-religious-studies-provision-uk-higher-education (hereafter, BA Report).3 BA Report, 5.4 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/students-lose-faith-in-re-degrees-ghcdcgn3v; https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/31-may/news/uk/academics-call-for-diversity-in-theology-faculties; https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/week-higher-education-30-may-2019

https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/theology-religious-studies-provision-uk-higher-education

https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/theology-religious-studies-provision-uk-higher-education

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/students-lose-faith-in-re-degrees-ghcdcgn3v

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/students-lose-faith-in-re-degrees-ghcdcgn3v

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/31-may/news/uk/academics-call-for-diversity-in-theology-faculties

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/31-may/news/uk/academics-call-for-diversity-in-theology-faculties

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/week-higher-education-30-may-2019

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/week-higher-education-30-may-2019

Introduction • 5

swingeing reorganisation. That the BA chose such a vulnerable discipline for their pilot study, without adequately considering the potential for negatively impacting that discipline, is disappointing, to say the least. Yet the report could have highlighted what is more positive in the data: the potential of RS to connect departments to other disciplines and faculties, and attract students across the humanities and social sciences, safeguarding the academic study of religion in toto. As has been shown in countries including the Netherlands, Finland and Norway, departmental resources would be spent wisely when supporting RS.5

2.1 Audiences and AimsThe primary audience for the BASR Response is the British Academy. Specifically, it is addressed to the H2 Subgroup who oversee the Theology & Religious Studies subject area, though it will also be of broader relevance to those in the subgroups for History, Anthropology, Sociology and other subjects in which religion is studied.

We do not seek for the report to be retracted. Rather, we ask that the British Academy make this response available alongside the original report. Alternatively, the BA might publish a clarification which addresses the significant differences between the two subjects and corrects the incomplete portrayal of the disciplinary health of Religious Studies. The BA Report is already being used as justification for swingeing cuts to RS departments in the post-COVID and post-Brexit financial climate. The BA Report is in this respect a cautionary tale— clearly, the diminishing of a small and already beleaguered subject was not one of the aims of the British Academy in preparing this report, but that is certainly a possibility

5 The Netherlands have been quite pragmatic in re-dedicating theological posts to the SoR when the student numbers were low: https://www.rug.nl/research/centre-for-religious-studies/; https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/department-of-philosophy-and-religious-studies. At LMU Munich, the philosophical and protestant theological faculty gave one position each to RS, and the programme has its own RS examination committee etc.; https://www.en.religionswissenschaft.uni-muenchen.de/index.html. In Oslo, they bind faculties/ departments together, including cultural studies, theology, SoR: https://www.uio.no/english/studies/courses/theology/. Bergen’s department is led by the SoR: https://www.uib.no/en/discipline/religion.Groningen and Utrecht are interesting models where Theology is still in the name but they have found a different way of organising their programmes – theologians, social scientists and RS staff work in thematic groups, share a research MA and make the difference between their programmes clear. The Finnish programme clearly distinguishes Theology and SoR, yet offers Comparative Religion as a major subject (https://www.abo.fi/en/study-subject/comparative-religion/) through the affiliated https://www.donnerinstitute.fi/en/about-us/ - an interesting solution to allow specialisation and have some freedom in cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Introduction • 6

in the present situation. Worse, the data in this response shows clearly that the outcome is likely to be lose-lose: both RS and Theology losing students, and ultimately, TRS departments.

A second audience is UCAS. As will be seen in Section 6, Summary and Conclusions, much of the confusion over the discipline comes from the multiple, overlapping and often contradictory ways in which the subject is coded. A reconsideration and simplification of these codes would help make the difference between the disciplines clearer to students, the public and the administration of HE institutions.

A third audience is academic staff in Religious Studies and related fields. For many the report will serve simply as a “state of the discipline” statement, setting out weaknesses and opportunities in a single document, and it is to be hoped guiding strategy going forward. Yet in this increasingly difficult time,6 having access to this data is helpful for colleagues who need to argue for the “naming” of departments and schools—and in fact colleagues have already used early drafts of this response to fight departmental closures by countering incorrect assumptions of the kind presented by the BA Report. The clarification we seek from the BA might, realistically, save jobs

2.2 Executive SummaryThese are the main points of the executive summary in the BA Report, followed by our brief responses. Additionally, it identifies several issues which are developed in more detail in later sections.

2.2.1 The overall trend in enrolment onto TRS courses in UK higher education is downward, in contrast to other humanities subjects like philosophy and history.

It is true that there were around 6,500 fewer students on Theology and Religious Studies courses in higher education institutions in 2017/18 than there were in 2011/12. But if one separates Theology from RS, the picture is quite different.

6 The research for this document was carried out before COVID-19 restrictions took effect, and writing was delayed as a result of the additional workloads faced by the contributors. Because of these delays, and because COVID-19 has been an ever-changing issue, data and questions relating specifically to COVID-19 have not been incorporated into the present report.

Introduction • 7

Our data shows that Theology and TRS honours were already in decline before the introduction of fees in 2012. The sole exception to this was V630 (Divinity), but this is a vocational degree and so is not affected to the same degree by funding and fees changes as the other TRS subjects (and indeed, the arts and humanities more broadly).7 RS, on the other hand, was actually increasing until the introduction of fees in 2012. While RS has declined since, the rate of decline has been smaller than that of Theology or TRS, and has actually been slowing.

The health of RS enrolment is further obscured by how the BA Report treats joint honours. Philosophy and Religious Studies Joint Honours courses (VV56/VV65) have steadily increased during this period, but as they are not included in the BA Report, this has been ignored. On the other hand, lower enrolment on Religion and Education joint degrees appears to be due to changes in teacher training regulation, and so does not reflect a lack of interest. See Section 4.

2.2.2 Changes to fees and funding in England look to have played a key role in the decline in TRS student enrolment.

This is certainly true. Nevertheless, digging into the data in more detail shows that it has had a much larger effect on RS than on Theology or TRS, which were already in decline prior to the funding cuts and introduction of fees. See Section 4.1.

2.2.3 Almost two thirds of undergraduate first degree students in TRS are women, but the proportion reverses for doctoral study.

This is largely in line with broader trends, with 70% of Arts & Humanities undergraduates being female.8 The reasons for this imbalance are not entirely clear, but certainly gender stereotyping is a factor, with women more likely to take up subjects perceived

7 These vocational degrees are also sometimes called Ministry or Theology.8 End of Cycle Report, UCAS, 2017. https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-analysis-reports/2017-end-cycle-report

https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/ucas-undergraduate-analysis-reports/2017-end-cycle-report




Introduction • 8

to be primarily focused on human relationships and aesthetics.9 It may also be exacerbated by the (untrue) perception that it is not a degree with good employment prospects (see Section 5).

In postgraduate study, male PG students are much more likely to be supported by a spouse, whereas female PG students are less likely to get this kind of support or encouragement from spouses or family.10 However, this imbalance is a far larger problem for Theology and Biblical Studies, where many doctoral students (particularly international ones) receive funding from churches or have the promise of a position after graduation, very often from conservative and male-dominated institutions.11 Indeed, as the Durham report on Gender and Career Progression in Theology and Religious Studies found, it is “departments that have historically and predominantly concerned themselves with Christian theology that tend to have the lowest proportions of female staff”.12 The BASR, on the other hand, has a roughly equal gender balance, suggesting again that this is a problem for Theology, rather than RS.

2.2.4 A large proportion of postgraduate students in TRS are from the United States.

The report correctly notes that “These trends may be reflecting an increased academic interest from within the evangelical wing of Christianity in the United States. The majority of the doctoral students coming from the United States are male, which is contributing to the skewed gender balance at this level of study.” This tacitly confirms that this is predominantly a problem for Biblical Studies and Divinity, and in fact this is a significant source of income for several Russell Group universities with “ancient” pedigrees, such as Edinburgh, Durham and St. Andrews. Again, this

9 Drawing for the future, Cascaid, 2018. https://cascaid.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/drawing-for-the-future/. Guest, Mathew and Sharma, Sonya and Song, Robert (2013) ‘Gender and career progression in theology and religious studies.’, Project Report. Durham University, Durham, 15-16. https://dro.dur.ac.uk/12179/10 Guest, Mathew and Sharma, Sonya and Song, Robert (2013) ‘Gender and career progression in theology and religious studies.’, Project Report. Durham University, Durham, 19-20. https://dro.dur.ac.uk/12179/11 Guest, Mathew and Sharma, Sonya and Song, Robert (2013) ‘Gender and career progression in theology and religious studies.’, Project Report. Durham University, Durham, 9. https://dro.dur.ac.uk/12179/12 Guest, Mathew and Sharma, Sonya and Song, Robert (2013) ‘Gender and career progression in theology and religious studies.’, Project Report. Durham University, Durham, 14-15. https://dro.dur.ac.uk/12179/

https://cascaid.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/drawing-for-the-future/



Introduction • 9

is a problem for Theology and Biblical Studies, not RS.

2.2.5 The study of religion is becoming more dispersed and less likely to be housed in distinct theology and religious studies departments.

This is true—while members of the BASR are not asked to declare the type of department in which they work, our analysis indicates that approximately one third of our membership (79 of 244) do not work in departments specialising in the study of religion. Similarly, when the AHRC announced the £12m “Religion and Society” research programme in 2007-2013—the largest block of research funding in the field in UK in the 21st century—the vast majority of funds were given to researchers outside TRS departments.13

From a research perspective, this may not be a negative. Religious Studies has long presented itself as multidisciplinary, and BASR members work in fields as diverse as architecture, sociology, health, education, geography, as well as various area studies. We return to the question of whether the best place for RS scholars is “distinct Theology and Religious Studies departments” in the conclusion.

Institutionally, however, this certainly further impacts enrolment on V6 courses, as increasingly RS scholars and courses no longer exist as separate departments, and so are unable to offer single-honours RS courses. “Balkanisation” of TRS departments - that is, an increase in area studies qualifications e.g. Jewish Studies or Islamic Studies - may also mean further fragmenting RS enrolment.

13 http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/research_findings/projects/overview

http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/research_findings/projects/overview

Theology and Religious Studies: A History of Entangled Disciplines • 10

3 Theology and Religious Studies: A History of Entangled Disciplines

Theology is one of the oldest disciplines in contemporary academia, indeed dating back to the foundation of the modern university. Religious Studies, on the other hand, dates back to the late 1800s as an academic discipline, and as a university department in the UK, largely to the late 1960s and 1970s.14

While the groups and traditions being studied may sometimes be the same, there are major epistemological and ontological differences between Theology and Religious Studies.15 RS includes a number of different methodologies, including history, sociology, psychology, anthropology and others, and is generally considered an interdisciplinary field, rather than a distinct method. As such, RS is located in part in the Humanities, where the focus is on understanding of beliefs and behaviours associated with religious groups; and in part in the social sciences, where the onus is on explanation. Both, however, assume a non-confessional approach. That is to say, it assumes a methodologically agnostic perspective, and is (in theory at least) not concerned with legitimising or defending religion and/or religions, but in the disinterested analysis thereof. This points towards a fundamental epistemological difference: Theology, as presented by the BA Report, is methodologically theist, that is, it assumes the existence of something more-or-less equivalent to the Divine, and its purview is the relationship between humans and this Divine. On the other hand, the existence and validity of the Divine and/or other metaphysical claims are not the subject of Religious Studies. Rather, the focus is on the concept of religion as an element of culture, including its biology and material conditions—the same conditions as necessary for studying other phenomena (do you need agnosticism for studying music or geography?)—and on methodologies for studying empirical (i.e. knowledge-based, not speculative or faith-formative) data and sources. So it should be clear that these are not the same subject, despite similar subject matter.

14 The situation is distinct in other European, Australasian and North American countries, which are not the focus of this response. 15 RS is also known as History of Religion, Comparative Religions and, increasingly, Studies in Religion (which avoids the problematic “Religious”). We will stick to RS here for simplicity, while not ignoring these different names.

Theology and Religious Studies: A History of Entangled Disciplines • 11

The first distinctly and solely Religious Studies department in the UK was at Lancaster, founded by Ninian Smart in 1967, followed by others in the so-called “red brick” wave of universities founded in the late 1960s and 1970s. Yet most “ancient” universities (mostly those nowadays referred to as the Russell Group) already had a Theology department, a result of their relationship to a dominant religious (Christian) institution, and the differentiation process linked with the emergence of the modern university. In most cases, RS and Theology were combined into one School (typically under the rubric of Divinity), and increasingly into a single TRS department. In such departments, RS has tended to be seen less as “the social scientific department”, but rather “the non-Christian department”. Increasingly, staff have increasingly been selected to each cover one or more of the so-called “World Religions”, leading to a department made of specialists from area studies, rather than academics trained in RS specifically, which arguably has led to a weakened departmental identity in many cases. Moreover, in such TRS departments, institutional power has tended to stay with positions in Theology for a number of institutional reasons including a lighter than average teaching load, the previously-mentioned weakened identity, and in some cases the long history of institutional connections between the universities and churches. The British Academy report continues this asymmetry. Yet there are typically fewer RS lecturers than Theology lecturers (in part because these roles are supported by the churches), who as a result of lower teaching loads are better able to take on leadership roles, and consequently are promoted more frequently. Theology lecturers do often support more PG students, but these numbers arguably are not comparable in terms of the staff input required. Although data is not publicly available, a number of our members have reported that combined TRS departments often rely on RS courses for undergraduate recruitment. It is typical for there to be several times the number of students enrolled in UG RS modules than in Theology modules, especially as they attract students from outside the subject area.

• 12Undergraduate Enrolment

4 Undergraduate Enrolment

4.1 ContextChanges to enrolment must be seen against the backdrop of a period of rapid neoliberal marketisation for the HE sector, driven by a decade of dramatic change to the UK and global economy. Prior to this, student numbers had mushroomed during the boom years of the 1990s, increasing from 984,000 in 1992, and plateauing at 1.87m following the crash in 2008 (though not declining significantly thereafter).16

Prime among the factors driving these changes was the Global Financial Crash of 2008. This ushered in a period in which “austerity” became the watchword, and cuts to spending were made across the board. One of these was a cut in overall research funding, while at the same time, a commitment was made to ring-fence STEM subjects—effectively meaning that the cuts disproportionately affected Arts and Humanities spending. If and when Humanities researchers did receive funding, they were often from a small group of predominantly Russell Group universities. This made it far more difficult to undertake postgraduate research, particularly for working- and middle-class students.

Tuition fees were introduced UK-wide in September 1998, as a result of the enactment of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 which also replaced maintenance grants with student loans. Following devolution in 1999, Scotland introduced a Graduate Endowment Scheme, and Wales (re)introduced its own maintenance grants in 2002. In England, the fee cap rose to £3,000 per academic year in 2006, and to £9,000 in 2012, to rise in line with inflation (presently £9,250). This amount is currently the same across the UK, except for Northern Irish students studying in Northern Ireland (capped at £4,395) and Scottish students studying in Scotland, whose fees are paid by the Scottish Government, as they have been since the abolition of the Graduate Endowment in 2007.17

Further to this, two factors have had a significant impact on the provision of RE in secondary schools in the last decade. First, the fact that Religious Education is not included in the English

16 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/howhasthestudentpopulationchanged/2016-09-2017 https://www.ucas.com/finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/howhasthestudentpopulationchanged/2016-09-20



https://www.ucas.com/finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans


Baccalaureate has resulted in a decline in numbers of students choosing RE as a GCSE option, and some schools “cutting out a ‘full course’ option at GCSE altogether”.18 Secondly, an increasing number of schools have converted into Academies, which are even less likely than community schools to meet their legal and contractual requirements for RE. Almost 40% of community schools and 50% of Academy schools “without a religious character” do not fulfil these requirements, according to a 2019 report by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE).19 The NATRE report also highlighted the lack of subject specific training available to RE teachers in schools, which is potentially related to austerity measures.

4.2 MethodFollowing the approach of the BA Report, we used the Complete Universities Guide to compile a list of 49 institutions offering “Theology and Religious Studies” degrees. In addition, we collected data on enrolment and coding from the universities directly. We also commissioned the full data on enrolment from HESA, the same source as the British Academy used in compiling their report.

In order to identify the data for Religious Studies-only courses, we initially filtered the data using the JACS codes associated with each course (see Appendix 2). This raised significant issues concerning the HESA JACS codes that universities are using. If we were to take only the “pure” RS codes—that is, courses listed as V620 (Religious Studies) or V627 (Comparative Religious Studies) only—just 5 of the 49 institutions offer these courses, according to the HESA data. However, comparing the universities’ own course description and the official code descriptor revealed a number of inconsistencies. The University of Edinburgh, for example, lists its RS degree as V627, but according to the HESA data for 2016/2017, only 10 people are logged doing this course in the entire country. However, for that period the HESA logs 285 people doing a V6 course at Edinburgh, so it appears that those students have been relocated under a different V6 code, most likely V600 (TRS). We have not been able to ascertain whether this change has been made before or after being reported

18 https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-baldry/religious-education-has-t_b_1030055.html; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-and-collective-worship-in-academies-and-free-schools/religious-education-re-and-collective-worship-in-academies-and-free-schools#:~:text=It%20also%20means%20that%20an,of%20any%20particular%20religious%20denomination.&text=Academies%20are%20accountable%20for%20the%20quality%20of%20their%20curricular%20provision%20including%20RE%20 19 NATRE 2019, 2; https://www.natre.org.uk/uploads/Free%20Resources/NATRE%20EBacc%20Survey%202019%20FINAL%20v3.pdf

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-baldry/religious-education-has-t_b_1030055.html

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-baldry/religious-education-has-t_b_1030055.html

https://www.natre.org.uk/uploads/Free%20Resources/NATRE%20EBacc%20Survey%202019%20FINAL%20v3.pdf

https://www.natre.org.uk/uploads/Free%20Resources/NATRE%20EBacc%20Survey%202019%20FINAL%20v3.pdf


to the HESA, or who has made the decision, but it points to potentially bigger discrepancies in how the data has been gathered and processed.

The data for Theology and Religious Studies (V600) courses raises a number of issues, as a case-by-case assessment as to whether they are more RS than Theology is necessary, which itself raises issues as to what counts as RS, etc. There are also courses with codes that do not match the HESA system at all, including some, such as the Open University, with large student bodies. Indeed, the Open University is one of the few remaining RS departments not affiliated in any way to a Theology department and has upwards of 350 students annually on its two RS courses.

Most significantly, there are also around 200 different joint honours courses on offer with a TRS component. Here we have listed education, politics, and philosophy individually as they are the most common. Indeed, VV56/VV65 courses—that is, joint honours with philosophy (albeit with various titles combining “Religious Studies”, “Philosophy”, “Ethics”, and “Theology”)—outnumber V600 courses altogether.

4.3 AnalysisAppendix 1 contains the full breakdown of the data provided by the HESA. Table 1 provides the full breakdown of enrolments, arranged by year and then enrolments for each V6 course based on whether they did a single honours, or if they did a joint honours whether the V6 course was their primary, secondary or tertiary option.20 The same data is provided here in graph format.

20 For simplicity’s sake, the philosophy and education courses have been reduced to their base code (V500 and X100). For the latter, the data does not distinguish those students who were taking teacher training courses focusing on primary or secondary education.

Undergraduate Enrolment • 16

Across all years, V6 courses are predominantly a secondary choice. Very few students take V6 joint honours where the V6 is the primary option. This may be because students perceive RS as having poor employability, or because increasingly RS scholars and courses no longer exist as separate departments. This skews RS enrolment lower, as students are being listed as belonging to another subject area.

Table 2 provides summaries for comparing the numbers of enrolment in each course, focusing on V600 (TRS), V610 (Theology), and V620 (RS). The first column of tables supplies the brute numbers broken down into single honours enrolments, joint honours enrolments, and totals. The second column of tables represents the same figures as percentages. In each case the percentage is a comparison against the average enrolment numbers of the five years prior to the introduction of £9,000/yr fees. This gives a clearer indication of the rate at which courses have lost numbers. It is worth noting that while the majority of these courses were already in decline before the introduction of £9,000/yr

fees, V620 (Religious Studies) was an exception, showing a steady increase in enrolment until 2012 and the introduction of fees.


In terms of Single Honours, if we exclude Divinity as a vocational course, the rate of decline of V600 (TRS), V610 (Theology) and V620 (RS) appears to be similar. The V6 (Other) courses have shown the sharpest decline and may well disappear in the next couple years.

Aside from the impact of the introduction of fees in 2012, joint honours does not show the same rate of decline as single honours. The rate of decline in single honours has been offset by joint enrolments. In the case of V620 (RS) this has been enough to show signs of some growth, though this is unlikely reflected in individual departments but people working as part of other units. For V600 (TRS) and V610 (Theology) there is still a consistent decline, but in the case of V600 (TRS) the uptake of joint honours may eventually balance this out. However, digging into the data a little deeper, we see that as the HESA figures are based on Full Person Equivalents—i.e. someone doing a joint honours is counted as 0.5 of a person doing an RS course. It appears that all these fractional students are allocated the code V600, as the generic code for Theology and Religious Studies, considerably inflating the figure for that course. This is key: without the various ways in which students have been moved into V600 and out of V620/7, Theology is clearly in far greater decline.

Registrations for Philosophy joint honours degrees have seen the only steady increase—so much so that they seem largely unaffected by the introduction of £9,000 fees. Further, these are not always consistently coded across the sector (e.g. Philosophy and Religion BA at Bangor, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics [R45] at the Open University). V5V6 shows the largest increase and across all years, with more students doing this than all other joint subjects combined. It is important to note that many such courses are not in fact joint honours but actually single honours, and might be predominantly philosophy or religion in some institutions but more equally balanced in others. In some cases, Philosophy and Religion Courses are TRS or RS courses rebranded as ‘philosophy’ to appeal to an A level RE market and a school/college sector which has promoted the term ‘philosophy’ as a more acceptable alternative to ‘religion’.

Combination degrees with education are also declining, cutting in half between 2016/17 to 2017/18. Like V6 Other courses, X100 (Education) joint honours is in danger of disappearing entirely. There are several other extenuating factors involved in that beyond the £9,000/yr fees, however. Most obviously, this is first degree enrolment and does not include figures for those doing Masters


courses in education. Edinburgh, for example, recently closed their 4-year undergraduate in favour of a 1-year Masters, due to changes in the regulation for Primary Teachers. Moreover, Primary Education degrees in England have changed from being a four-year degree including academic subjects, to three years without the subject component. This has meant there are now fewer graduates enrolling on PGCE courses for RE (secondary) which has further impacted student numbers in many RS departments.

However, due to funding cuts, students can apply for bursaries for teacher training in Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Computing, Geography and languages—but not other subjects (i.e. not RE).21 While neither government departments nor universities collect accurate data on social class, anecdotal evidence suggests that a large proportion of trainee teachers are from lower/middle income backgrounds, and this will have further affected enrolment significantly.22

Though not represented in the tables, there is a noticeable drop in joint honours with History, English and foreign languages after the £9,000/yr fees are introduced. This is likely because these subject areas are suffering as well. If TRS is a “secondary course” then it is further dependent on the strength of these other subject areas. Moreover, there is a perception of Humanities as having low rates of employment (incorrect, in fact; see Section 5), which in times of financial pressure (and increasing up-front investment in terms of fees and loans) will further discourage students from enrolling.

21 https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-my-teacher-training/bursaries-and-scholarships-for-teacher-training (Accessed 10/09/2020).22 Information is collected on FSM (Free School Meal recipient) applicants, but this captures only a small percentage of the working classes. Similarly, the increasingly-used POLAR4 collects data on HE applicants from underrepresented areas, but is misleading as a significant minority of middle class families also live in such areas. Both are regularly used as proxies for working class, but there is a need for much more accurate data.

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-my-teacher-training/bursaries-and-scholarships-for-teacher-training

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-my-teacher-training/bursaries-and-scholarships-for-teacher-training

Employment • 20

5 Employment

There is a conception that TRS subjects do not offer high rates of employability. This is incorrect—in fact, Religious Studies and/or Theology students are highly employable. More than 82% go on to employment or further study, and 29% go onto professional jobs23—more than any other Humanities and Social Science subject except architecture and languages24—with an average graduate starting salary of £21,421 at present.25

TRS graduates work in the NHS; the civil service; youth and social work, advertising, investment and banking, law, politics, business, the creative industries, the charity sector and NGOs, publishing and journalism, and education.26 The services sector makes up 80% of the UK economy, and this is only expected to grow in the future.27

The skills developed in Religious Studies are increasingly in demand in a complex, connected, global society.28 These include:

• Understanding the relationship between individuals, cultures and communities, and increasingly the global community, and the complexity of how social behaviours are shaped by beliefs and values;

• Contextualised critical and analytical skills, applied to the real world, and dealing with issues arising from multiple and conflicting interpretations of texts and traditions with sensitivity and empathy;

• Being able to understand different viewpoints and philosophies, from an interdisciplinary perspective—and apply that understanding to find practical solutions.

23 https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/theology-and-religious-studies24 The Times Good University Guide 2018 (25 Sept 2017), 4-5.25 https://www.savethestudent.org/student-jobs/whats-the-expected-salary-for-your-degree.html#humanities (Accessed 14/08/2020)26 “Where next? Unlocking the potential of your theology or religious studies degree” (2009), 4. http://aulre.org/heaprsarchive/emp_guide_trs.pdf27 “The Right Skills: Celebrating Skills in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences” (2017), 49-50 ( https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/217/right-skills.pdf); this is further supported by the British Academy’s own recent report, “Qualified for the Future” (2020), 6 (https://www.bisa.ac.uk/news/new-british-academy-report-qualified-future).28 https://www.bisa.ac.uk/news/new-british-academy-report-qualified-future (2020), 6.

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/theology-and-religious-studies

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/theology-and-religious-studies

http://aulre.org/heaprsarchive/emp_guide_trs.pdf

https://www.bisa.ac.uk/news/new-british-academy-report-qualified-future



Summary and Conclusions • 21

6 Summary and Conclusions

6.1 SummaryThe BA presented this as a “pilot” study, to test the viability of such a study, with TRS chosen because it was a relatively small area. In this it has certainly been effective, revealing considerable issues with how course coding, disciplinary branding and economic factors can dramatically affect enrolment in such a small discipline. Given the debates on the epistemological and methodological divisions in the study of religion—debates that have been raging since at least the 1950s—TRS was a naïve choice for such a pilot study. It may be that the failure is ours, for failing to differentiate social-scientific critical approaches from confessional ones; but it may be that the BA did not want to make that distinction for political reasons—which the opening line may suggest—or simply through being unaware of the importance.

6.2 Implications for HESA CodesHESA codes for the Study of Religion are disorganised, ad hoc, and in some cases represent different out-dated strata of the history of the discipline (Religious Studies and Comparative Religious Studies, for example). The lack of consensus and consistency across the discipline has led to a serious underrepresentation of our numbers and has reduced the institutional visibility of the discipline. One solution would be for HESA to reduce the number of options, though this seems unlikely to happen as the HESA has hitherto allowed the production and application of codes to be driven by the institutions using them. Another more achievable option then would be a concerted campaign by departments to consolidate courses under a small set of codes, more representative of the field today.

6.3 Implications for the TRS ‘brand’The ‘standard line’ among many RS academics in the last twenty years or so has been to present TRS as a unified field in order to shore up RS in a time of considerable pressure on the Humanities, and Religious Studies in particular. The argument is that this united front will present a larger presence, making the field more visible to educational, governmental and legal bodies, and less vulnerable to

Summary and Conclusions • 22

university closures and reorganisations.29

This report suggests that this has not been what has happened. Rather than ensuring RS has a place at the table, combining RS and Theology into one subject has left RS side-lined, and TRS promoted as “the study of the divine”. The upshot is that neither party has gained anything: RS cannot present its profile adequately, and the effect of RS attracting a different (and larger) cohort of students to the department or school does not happen, because it is identified with Theology, which the data shows clearly is in precipitous decline, except where it has become a vocational degree.

While the TRS brand initially existed to promote Theology and RS together, it has had the effect of deemphasising the critical differences between the discipline and has diminished the broader social-scientific impact of RS. When conservative bodies such as the British Academy then consider TRS, they appear to be more interested in the T than the RS—either through a lack of understanding of the difference, 30 or because their disciplinary background is more likely to be in Theology. In short, the TRS brand attempts to defend both subjects, often without proper differentiation, meaning that the unfortunate reality is that RS, which is subject to neither the same advantages (vocational courses and historic institutional power) nor disadvantages (declining public interest), is effectively erased in this attempt. This power relationship between Theology and Religious Studies is evident not only in the BA Report, but in many HEI contexts too, where Theology and RS are taught in the same department, or where RS specialists have been dispersed across the humanities or social sciences.

The data in this response does not rule out collaboration between RS, Theology and other approaches to the study of religion—but making the differences visible is the condition for collaboration that is not assimilation. The TRS brand was reflective of the make-up of many institutional departments of decades past, but is not reflective of the current institutional landscape. Promoting Theology at the expense of RS is exactly the wrong approach, as it is RS that can be shown to attract students, promote interdisciplinary teaching and research, and present a cost-effective future for the academic study of religion in the modern university.

29 https://trs.ac.uk/about-trs/ (Accessed 31/08/2020)30 We might here recall Brian Bocking’s famous remark that “If you don’t know the difference between theology and religious studies, then you’re a theologian” (Corrywright & Morgan, Get Set for Religious Studies, Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 50)

https://trs.ac.uk/about-trs/

Postscript • 23

7 Postscript

The picture of the field presented here is not a pretty one. Yet it is far from being as bleak as the impression given by the BA Report. Separated from Theology, and taking the dispersion across different departments into account, RS numbers are holding up much better than it might appear. The drops are in line with many other Humanities and Social Sciences subjects, and RS graduates remain highly employable.

Nevertheless, the report does highlight serious issues. RS is in danger of becoming institutionally invisible. We are responsible for the power we’ve ceded. Yet this response suggests concrete steps we can take to rectify this situation. We need to work harder to increase our representation in organisations such as the British Academy, TRS-UK and others, and explain both to the academy and wider society how and why RS is different from Theology. We need to consolidate UCAS Codes, and persuade our institutions to apply them consistently.

It may be that the failure is ours, for failing to differentiate RS’s approaches from Theology, and for failing to make the case for the social-scientific non-confessional study of religion in public discourse. But it also seems that, for some colleagues outside RS, there are strong political or institutional reasons for not making the distinction—perhaps to address Theology’s steeper declining numbers, or to protect confessional study against the non-confessional approaches of RS. To judge by its opening line, the BA Report simply failed to see why the distinction is important, because the H2 Subgroup is predominantly made up of scholars from a Biblical Studies or Theology background.31 It would be even more regrettable if the BA’s actions were to further impact negatively on Religious Studies. With appropriate support from the BA and collaborative work with other national bodies, the BASR looks forward to foregrounding the vital contribution RS makes to the Humanities, Social Sciences, and wider society.

31 Fewer than 10 of the 61 members have any RS background.

Appendices • 24

8 Appendices

8.1 Appendix 1 | UCAS CODES

HESA Code

Course Title Course Descriptor

V600 Theology and Religious Studies

The Study of the nature of divinity and of beliefs in their social context

V601 (V610)

Theology Interpretation of doctrinal concepts such as faith, revelation and grace.

V602 (V620)

Religious studies

Identification and classification of religions and the comparative study of the world’s religious traditions.

V603 (V621)

Christian studies

The theory and practice of Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and other Christian denominations.

V604 (V622)

Islamic studies The theory and practice of Islam.

V605 (V623)

Judaism The theory and practice of the Jewish religion.

V606 Hinduism The theory and practice of the Hindu religious tradition.

V607 (V625)

Buddhism The theory and practice of the Buddhist religious tradition.

V608 (V626)

Other Asian religious studies

The theory and practice of other Asian religions.

V609 (V627)

Comparative religious studies

The comparative study of different religious beliefs, customs and observations.

V610 (V630)

Divinity Investigation into the nature of a deity and other divine beings.

V611 (V640)

Religious writings

The study and interpretation of religious writings in their historical, theological and philosophical contexts.

V612 (V641)

The Bible & Christian texts

Includes study of the Old and New Testaments, the apocryphal writings and patristic exegesis.

Appendices • 25

V642 The Qur’an & Islamic texts

Includes study of the Qur’an (Koran) and interpretation of Sharia.

V643 The Torah & Judaic texts

Includes study of the Torah and Talmudic interpretation.

V644 Asian religious texts

Includes study of the Bhagavad-Gita, Tripitaka, Vedic, Taoist and Confucian texts.

V645 Comparative religious texts

Critical interpretation, comparison and analysis of religious texts.

V650 Pastoral studies

The study of religious practice in its social setting. It includes the work of the Ministry in religious education.

V690 Theology & religious studies not elsewhere classified

Miscellaneous grouping for related subjects which do not fit into the other Theology and Religious studies categories. To be used sparingly.

Appendices • 26

V6 Courses provided by Institutions (source: Complete Universities

Guide 2019)

Appendices • 27

Individual Course titles against HESA Coding

Appendices • 28

8.2 Appendix 2 | Enrolment DataNotes

Though not represented in the tables, there is a noticeable drop in joint honours with History, English, and languages after the £9,000/yr fees are introduced. This is likely because these subject areas are suffering as well. If TRS is a “secondary course”, then it is further dependent on the strength of these other subject areas.

The V6V6 (Combination) listing is for those cases where a student has taken a joint honours course which combines two (or more) of the V600 courses. The most common case of this is the combination of V610 with another course. There were also courses that are “religion”-related but do not come under the V600 category, including L350 (Religion in Society) and V330 (History of religions). The data set does not include their full enrolments. However, these courses seem to disappear in the transition from JACS2.0 coding to JACS3.0 coding, coinciding with the introduction of £9,000/yr fees.

V6 (Other) combines V621 (Christian Studies), V622 (Islamic Studies), V623 (Judaism), V627 (Comparative Religious Studies), V640 (Religious Writing), V61 (The Bible), V650 (Pastoral Studies), etc. With the exception of Islamic Studies, enrolments of these courses never rises above 50. However, in the case of Islamic Studies it is only as a joint honours that we see the numbers go over 100. Islamic studies is largely responsible for the higher numbers in the early years of data.

In the case of V500 (Philosophy) and X100 (Teacher Training) this table does not differentiate which V6 option is taken. The majority of these are V600 (TRS) or V620 (Religious Studies). Prior to 2012, there were a small number of combinations with X100 (Teacher Training) and V622 (Islamic Studies) which have since disappeared.

V630 (Divinity) has been listed separately as it is the only course outside the main options where single honours enrolment rose above 100. After an initial hit, it is also the only course to show a consistent increase in enrolment since the introduction of £9,000/yr fees. This is probably because V630 refers to ministry training and is therefore the only vocational option - those entering ministry would likely do so regardless of financial cost. Divinity has been excluded from the joint honours chart as the actual number of enrolments is only ever 4-6, which causes the wide fluctuation in percentage change.

Appendices • 29

Like V6 Other courses, X100 Education joint honours is in danger of disappearing entirely. There are several other extenuating factors involved in that beyond the £9,000/yr fees. Most obviously, this is first degree enrolment and does not include figures for those doing Masters courses in education, which many institutions have switched to.

2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008

Code Single Honours Joint-1st Joint-2nd Joint-3rd Total CodeSingle Honours Joint-1st Joint-2nd Joint-3rd Total Code

Single Honours Joint-1st Joint-2nd Joint-3rd Total Code








Single Honours Joint-1st Joint-2nd Joint-3rd Total

(V600) Theology & religious studies 2005 23 268 206 2502





(V600) Theology & religious studies 3160 55 385 3600






(V6V6) Combination Degree 128 128





(V6V6) Combination Degree 149 3 152






(V610) Theology 644 2 52 698 (V610) Theology 711 3 48 762 (V610) Theology 770 2 53 825 (V610) Theology 818 2 107 927 (V610) Theology 878 2 53 933 (V610) Theology 971 4 107 1082 (V610) Theology 1125 14 103 4 1246 (V610) Theology 1244 22 106 5 1377 (V610) Theology 878 33 101 4 1016 (V610) Theology 977 30 103 1 1111 (V610) Theology 1013 41 103 1 1158(V620) Religious Studies 342 169 126 637

(V620) Religious Studies 368 7 158 85 618

(V620) Religious Studies 388 8 166 562









(V621) Christian Studies 0 3 3




(V621) Christian Studies 48 48







(V622) Islamic studies 11 12 17 40

(V622) Islamic studies 20 33 53






(V622) Islamic studies 36 4 70 2 112


(V622) Islamic studies 54 8 69 4 135 (V622) Islamic studies 64 4 81 4 153

(V623) Judaism 1 1 (V623) Judaism 0 (V623) Judaism 0 (V623) Judaism 2 2 (V623) Judaism 1 1 (V623) Judaism 2 2 (V623) Judaism 1 4 5 (V623) Judaism 2 3 5 (V623) Judaism 2 6 8 (V623) Judaism 2 2 4 (V623) Judaism 1 3 4(V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0 (V625) Buddhism 0

(V626) Other Asian religious studies 1 1


(V626) Other Asian religious studies 0









(V627) Comparative Religious Studies 25 25











(V630) Divinity 141 7 148 (V630) Divinity 135 9 144 (V630) Divinity 125 4 129 (V630) Divinity 125 3 128 (V630) Divinity 107 2 109 (V630) Divinity 113 1 2 116 (V630) Divinity 115 1 2 118 (V630) Divinity 139 1 2 142 (V630) Divinity 157 1 4 162 (V630) Divinity 179 1 3 183 (V630) Divinity 167 2 169(V640) Religious Writings 16 16

(V640) Religious Writings 27 27










(V641) The Bible and Christian Texts 5 15 20





(V641) The Bible and Christian Texts 9 2 11 22






(V650) Pastoral Studies 8 8









(V650) Pastoral Studies 23 23 (V650) Pastoral Studies 32 32

(V500) Philosophy + (V600) Theology and Religious Studies 6 695 3 704




(V500) Philosophy + (V600) Theology and Religious Studies 4 494 498

(V690) Theology & religious studies not elsewhere classified 1 1

(V690) Theology & religious studies not elsewhere classified 0





(V500) Philosophy + (V610) Theology 35 35











(V500) Philosophy + (V620) Religious Studies 236 77 313



(V500) Philosophy + (V620) Religious Studies 1 179 66 246



(V500) Philosophy + (V610) Theology 1 66 67





(V500) Philosophy + (V621) Christian Studies 4 4











(V500) Philosophy + (V630) Divinity 0

(V500) Philosophy + (V630) Divinity 1 1





(V500) Philosophy + (V621) Christian Studies 0





(V500) Philosophy + (V641) Bible and Christian Texts 0


(V500) Philosophy + (V641) Bible and Christian Texts 1 1




(V500) Philosophy + (V622) Islamic Studies 2 2



(V500) Philosophy + (V622) Islamic Studies 0


(X1) Education + (V600) Theology and Religious Studies 60 56 1 117










(V500) Philosophy + (V623) Judaism 1 1

(X1) Education + (V620) Religious Studies 2 2




(X1) Education + (V620) Religious Studies 99 2 101







(X1) Education + (V621) Christian Studies 4 4









(X1) Education + (V600) Theology and Religious Studies 227 86 313


3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093

(X1) Education + (V621) Christian Studies 0





5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822

(X1) Education + (V622) Islamic Studies 1 1

(X1) Education + (V622) Islamic Studies 1 3 1 5


5317 571 1871 8 7767 5419 542 1869 9 7839(X1) Education + (V622) Islamic Studies 1 1 2 4

5496 552 1925 11 7984

Appendices • 30

[INSERT BASR data 2.pdf]

2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008



























































































































































































































3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093






5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822





5496 552 1925 11 7984

Appendices • 31


2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008



























































































































































































































3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093






5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822





5496 552 1925 11 7984

Appendices • 32


2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008



























































































































































































































3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093






5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822





5496 552 1925 11 7984

Appendices • 33


2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008



























































































































































































































3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093






5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822





5496 552 1925 11 7984

Appendices • 34

2017/2018 2016/2017 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013 2011/2012 2010/2011 2009/2011 2008/2009 2007/2008



























































































































































































































3172 404 1543 287 5406 3423 442 1585 332 5782 3636 407 1524 224 5791 3858 379 1488 90 5815 4456 460 1457 51 6424







4899 518 1666 10 7093






5509 538 1804 15 7866 5431 496 1881 14 7822





5496 552 1925 11 7984

• 35Appendices

[INSERT BASR data 2.pdf] Single Honours

2007/082008/09

2009/102010/11

2011/122012/13

2013/14134 4/15

2015/162016/17

2017/18Single H

onoursAVG

2012/132013/14

134 4/152015/16

2016/172017/18

(V600) Theology & religious studies3716

36863520

33583501

31602901

23932280

21522005

(V600) Theology & religious studies

355688.86%

81.58%67.29%

64.12%60.52%

56.38%(V610) Theology

1013977

8781244

1125971

878818

770711

644(V610) Theology

104792.74%

83.86%78.13%

73.54%67.91%

61.51%(V620) Religious Studies

409415

558489

571526

467415

388368

342(V620) Religious Studies

488107.79%

95.70%85.04%

79.51%75.41%

70.08%(V630) D

ivinity167

179157

139115

113107

125125

135141

(V630) Divinity

15174.83%

70.86%82.78%

82.78%89.40%

93.38%(V6) O

ther191

162204

201197

129103

10773

5740

(V6) Other

19167.54%

53.93%56.02%

38.22%29.84%

20.94%Total

54965419

53175431

55094899

44563858

36363423

3172

Joint2007/08

2008/092009/10

2010/112011/12

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18

JointAVG

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18


640630

598538

440433

407449

498497


61971.08%

69.95%65.75%

72.54%80.45%


145134

138133

117111

55109

5551

54(V610) Theology

13383.46%

41.35%81.95%

41.35%38.35%


373394

368361

328269

221182

174250


36573.70%

60.55%49.86%

47.67%68.49%

80.82%(V630) D

ivinity2

45

33

32

34

97

(V630) Divinity

3100.00%

66.67%100.00%

133.33%300.00%

233.33%(V6) O

ther148

141125

134123

9589

8779

10174

(V6) Other

13470.90%

66.42%64.93%

58.96%75.37%

55.22%(V6V6) Com

bination57

36108

142125

152118

79117

151128

(V6V6) Combination

94161.70%

125.53%84.04%

124.47%160.64%

136.17%(V5V6) Philosophy and …

655654

713718

751786

728878

9781034

1056(V5V6) Philosophy and …

698112.61%

104.30%125.79%

140.11%148.14%

151.29%(X1V6) Education and …

423417

363302

368338

322315

299265

123(X1V6) Education and …

37590.13%

85.87%84.00%

79.73%70.67%

32.80%Total

24902420

24502391

23532194

19682060

21552359

2234

Single and Joint2007/08

2008/092009/10

2010/112011/12

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18

Single and JointAVG

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18


43264150

39564039

36003334

27022729

26502502


417586.23%

79.86%64.72%

65.37%63.47%


11581111

10161377

12461082

933927

825762

698(V610) Theology

118291.54%

78.93%78.43%

69.80%64.47%


782809

926850

899795

688592

562618


85393.20%

80.66%69.40%

65.89%72.45%

74.68%(V630) D

ivinity169

183162

142118

116109

128129

144148

(V630) Divinity

15574.84%

70.32%82.58%

83.23%92.90%

95.48%(V6) O

ther337

303329

335320

224192

194152

158114

(V6) Other

32568.92%

59.08%59.69%

46.77%48.62%

35.08%(V6V6) Com

bination57

36108

142125

152118

79117

151128

(V6V6) Combination

94161.70%

125.53%84.04%

124.47%160.64%


655654

713718

751786

728878

9781034


698112.61%

104.30%125.79%

140.11%148.14%


423417

363302

368338

322315

299265


37590.13%

85.87%84.00%

79.73%70.67%

32.80%Total

79847839

77677822

78667093

64245815

57915782

54067980

78407764

78967866

70936417

59165795

56935406

• 36Appendices

Single Honours

2007/082008/09

2009/102010/11

2011/122012/13

2013/14134 4/15

2015/162016/17

2017/18Single H

onoursAVG

2012/132013/14

134 4/152015/16

2016/172017/18


36863520

33583501

31602901

23932280

21522005


355688.86%

81.58%67.29%

64.12%60.52%


1013977

8781244

1125971

878818

770711

644(V610) Theology

104792.74%

83.86%78.13%

73.54%67.91%


409415

558489

571526

467415

388368


488107.79%

95.70%85.04%

79.51%75.41%

70.08%(V630) D

ivinity167

179157

139115

113107

125125

135141

(V630) Divinity

15174.83%

70.86%82.78%

82.78%89.40%

93.38%(V6) O

ther191

162204

201197

129103

10773

5740

(V6) Other

19167.54%

53.93%56.02%

38.22%29.84%

20.94%Total

54965419

53175431

55094899

44563858

36363423

3172

Joint2007/08

2008/092009/10

2010/112011/12

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18

JointAVG

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18


640630

598538

440433

407449

498497


61971.08%

69.95%65.75%

72.54%80.45%


145134

138133

117111

55109

5551

54(V610) Theology

13383.46%

41.35%81.95%

41.35%38.35%


373394

368361

328269

221182

174250


36573.70%

60.55%49.86%

47.67%68.49%

80.82%(V630) D

ivinity2

45

33

32

34

97

(V630) Divinity

3100.00%

66.67%100.00%

133.33%300.00%

233.33%(V6) O

ther148

141125

134123

9589

8779

10174

(V6) Other

13470.90%

66.42%64.93%

58.96%75.37%

55.22%(V6V6) Com

bination57

36108

142125

152118

79117

151128

(V6V6) Combination

94161.70%

125.53%84.04%

124.47%160.64%


655654

713718

751786

728878

9781034


698112.61%

104.30%125.79%

140.11%148.14%


423417

363302

368338

322315

299265


37590.13%

85.87%84.00%

79.73%70.67%

32.80%Total

24902420

24502391

23532194

19682060

21552359

2234

Single and Joint2007/08

2008/092009/10

2010/112011/12

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18

Single and JointAVG

2012/132013/14

2014/152015/16

2016/172017/18


43264150

39564039

36003334

27022729

26502502


417586.23%

79.86%64.72%

65.37%63.47%


11581111

10161377

12461082

933927

825762

698(V610) Theology

118291.54%

78.93%78.43%

69.80%64.47%


782809

926850

899795

688592

562618


85393.20%

80.66%69.40%

65.89%72.45%

74.68%(V630) D

ivinity169

183162

142118

116109

128129

144148

(V630) Divinity

15574.84%

70.32%82.58%

83.23%92.90%

95.48%(V6) O

ther337

303329

335320

224192

194152

158114

(V6) Other

32568.92%

59.08%59.69%

46.77%48.62%

35.08%(V6V6) Com

bination57

36108

142125

152118

79117

151128

(V6V6) Combination

94161.70%

125.53%84.04%

124.47%160.64%


655654

713718

751786

728878

9781034


698112.61%

104.30%125.79%

140.11%148.14%


423417

363302

368338

322315

299265


37590.13%

85.87%84.00%

79.73%70.67%

32.80%Total

79847839

77677822

78667093

64245815

57915782

54067980

78407764

78967866

70936417

59165795

56935406

BASR Response to the 2019 British Academy Report,

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Transcript of BASR Response to the 2019 British Academy Report,