Smaller classes in ITs but university staff more qualified

The 14 institutes of technology have the smallest classes and most non-traditional students but universities have higher-qualified staff and generate far more research income.

These are some of the trends that emerge from the first detailed profiles of all publicly funded colleges.

While avoiding a system of league tables like those done by international ranking systems, which it says are inappropriate for evaluating performance, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) lists a range of statistics for each college. They include a dozen headings and various sub-categories, which include numbers and proportions of: