University applications still rising - but more slowly

31 Jan 2011

The latest statistics from the university admissions service, UCAS, show that applications for courses starting in autumn 2011 are still rising, but the rate of increase is slowing.

They also show that students are increasingly looking for vocational and applied courses - and there are signs that students are being more cost conscious (with a sharp fall in applications from England to Scotland).

The figures - showing applications to 24th January (close to the 'official' deadline for many courses) - shows an increase of 5.1% on the same time last year. At this time last year, the number of applicants was up by around 20%.

The decline in the rate of increase is perhaps surprising as a surge of applications was expected this year ahead of the lifting of the cap on fees. It may be that the state of the graduate employment market - and the publicity surrounding the cost of going to university - has put off some potential applicants.

Indeed, a closer analysis of the figures, shows that the increase in applications from school-leavers is very small. The number of applicants aged 18 or under is up by just 0.6% and for those aged 19 it is up by just 0.9%.

By contrast, applications from 21 year-olds are up by 15%. Overall applicants from the 19-21 age bracket are up by 10.5%, and those aged over 21 are up by 6.9%, suggesting a rise in the numbers reapplying or seeking entry as mature students.

The chair of the Million+ group of newer universities, Les Ebdon, said the figures showed that "even more students are hoping to get to university than in 2010 but they will be fighting over exactly the same number of places".

Applications from students in England are also up by just 3.7%. By contrast the increase is larger for the rest of the UK: Scotland is up 6.1%, Northern Ireland 6.5% and Wales 4.7%.

And the overall UK figure of 4% is considerably less than the rise in applicants to UK universities from elsewhere in the EU (up 17%) and from the rest of the world (7.7%).

Vocational and applied courses appear to be attracting the largest increases: 'subjects allied to medicine' (+18%), Veterinary, and Agriculture related (+ 12.8%), Engineering (+7.7%), Mass Communications (+9.3%), and Creative Arts & Design (+11.8%).

By contrast there were smaller rises (or even falls) for: Linguistics & Classics (down 2.7%), Social Sciences combined with Arts (down 0.7%), History & Philosophical Studies (+0.1%), and European Languages (+0.5%).

Applications from students living in England to universities in Scotland were down by 14.7%. This reflects the likelihood that English students in Scotland will pay more than Scots and indeed more than students from elsewhere in the EU.

Commenting on the overall figures, Paul Marshall of the 1994 Group said he was "pleased to see that there has been no rush towards ‘panic applications’ with students rushing to avoid increased graduate contributions. We hope that this calm headedness continues, and that there will be no significant drop in applications for the 2012 academic year".

There are surprisingly different pictures across the range of courses and universities, with specialist and vocational courses and institutions tending to prove more popular.

For example, the specialist University College Falmouth has seen a 33.6% increase in applications compared to 2010.

Teacher education in universities continues to show high demand, despite a government push for on-the-job training schemes based in schools. Overall there was an 8.5% growth in applicants for education degrees. The Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln, a specialist teacher training institution, received a 23.9% increase.

The full UCAS figures are at: www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2011/20110131