UK university applications up by 4% says UCAS

The number of applicants for higher education courses has increased by 4% based on recently released statistics from University and College Admissions Service (UCAS).

The increase takes the number applying to universities across the country to 659,030, up by 4%  compared to the same point last year.

Applications from England, Wales and Scotland rose by 3%, 2% and 3% respectively but remained static in Northern Ireland.

The statistics also revealed an unprecedented 35% of 18-year-olds living in England applied for higher education, bringing the application rates for students in the UK close to their highest levels.

Those in the worst-off areas of the UK have also shown a massive increase in applicants in the last ten years. Young people from these areas are now almost twice as likely to apply as they were a decade ago, significantly closing the gap between the underprivileged and more affluent areas.

Figures show 87,000 more women applied to universities than men, a difference that has increased by 7,000 from last year.

Furthermore, the data has revealed that the number of individual applications has also increased, with students exercising their prerogative to apply to five different universities or courses, pushing the total number of applications to 2.5 million.

Chief executive of UCAS Mary Curnock Cook expressed her concerns about the growing “stubborn gap” between the number of male and female applicants earlier this year.

Ms Curnock Cook stated: “Young men are becoming a disadvantaged group in terms of going to university and this underperformance needs urgent focus across the education sector.”

She also responded to the general increase in interest towards pursuing higher education and commented: “This analysis shows a remarkably persistent growth in demand for higher education from all demographic backgrounds and for institutions across the spectrum in the UK.”

Joe Manners Lewis