UK: Record increase in applications

Applications from students to enrol in British universities for 2008 are at an all-time high. Numbers are up by almost 7% on last year – an increase of at least 26,000. The rise follows a record number of applications last year and was higher than expected. Figures published earlier this month by UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Application Service, showed that the number applying from poorer families had also increased slightly from almost 29% to nearly 30%.

Bill Rammell, England’s Minister for Higher Education, said he was extremely pleased and encouraged by the increase in applications from lower socio-economic groups “as we continue to work to widen participation in higher education through, for example, greater links between universities and schools”.

Rammell said the improved student support package starting this September would enable a further 100,000 students to benefit from a full or partial grant of up to £2,835 ($5,572) a year. Along with loans available for tuition fees and living costs, and bursaries offered by universities, this meant that no student should be put off considering higher education for financial reasons.

UCAS said that as of 15 January, the date when applicants needed to apply to be given equal consideration, there were 430,489 people seeking a full-time undergraduate course. UCAS chief executive Anthony McClaran said: “These figures provide an encouraging indication for the likely position in the summer and, of course, there will still be thousands more applications between now and then.”

Law remained the top of subject choices, pre-clinical medicine climbed from third to second, psychology fell to third, and English and management studies swapped places and are now fourth and fifth respectively.

Applications from under-21s in other EU countries were up by nearly 10% to 18,868, while those from non-EU countries rose by 13.5% to 21,029. China’s applications increased dramatically by 20% to 3,386 – up from 2,811 in 2007. US applications were up by 9.4% to 1,872, those from Nigeria dropped by 19% to 946, and Bulgaria’s rose by 111.3% to 845.