UCAS - Variety of factors behind 11.6% rise in applications to UK higher education

Variety of factors behind 11.6% rise in applications to UK higher education

Friday 16 July 2010

With the 30 June deadline for applications to UK undergraduate courses now having passed, UCAS is reporting an 11.6% annual rise in applicant numbers. So far this year, 660,953 people have applied to start full-time undergraduate courses this autumn compared to 592,312 at the same point last year. See figures 1a, 1b and 1c.

Changes to the deadline for art and design courses, plus a general trend towards applying earlier in the admissions cycle, have meant that the 30 June figure has levelled off significantly compared with figures released by UCAS earlier in 2010 (see editors' note 1).

Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS Chief Executive, said: "As in previous years, we're seeing a rise in demand for undergraduate courses in the UK. Applications are up across the board - young people clearly see higher education as a good option for continued learning and career progression, international applicants are attracted by our world-class higher education provision, and we're also seeing more mature students apply."

UCAS data shows that in relation to applicant figures for 2009:

The number of female applicants has risen by 12.4%, with male applicants up 10.5%. This means that female applicants make up 56.5% of the cohort in 2010. See figure 2.
Applications from all age groups are up on 2009 figures, with those from older applicants seeing the largest percentage rises, continuing the recent trend of pronounced increases in mature applicants. Applicants aged 21-24 have risen by 14.9%; those aged 25-39 have risen by 22.6%; those aged 40 and above have risen by 23.3%. See figure 3 (see editors' note 2).
Within the UK, although the figures indicate that the number of applicants from Scotland has risen by 20.5%, this is mostly attributable to those who would previously have used Scotland's CATCH system. When adjusted to take CATCH into account - to help make a more direct comparison with 2009 applicant numbers - the percentage rise is 4.6 per cent. See figure 4a (see editors' note 3).
Applicant numbers from other EU countries have risen by 22.3% in 2010; this compares to a rise in 2009 of 15.4%. Much of this is accounted for by applicants from the Republic of Ireland, the number of whom has risen from 5,973 in 2009 to 8,075 in 2010. See figure 4b.
China continues to lead the way in international applications to UK higher education with 9,393 applicants, up 11.7% from 2009. Other countries with significant increases include: Lithuania (87.6 % increase), Ireland (35.2% increase), Singapore (15.6% increase) and Hong Kong (12.2% increase). See figure 4c.
As at 30 June 2010, there were 56,960 applicants who previously applied, representing a 24% rise in reappliers compared to 2009. This figure includes applicants who withdrew or decided not to take up places, as well as those who were unsuccessful in securing a place in 2009, and represents 8.6% of the total 2010 cohort (up from 7.8% in 2009). See figure 5.

In relation to the total number of applications (or "choices" - see editors' note 4) for degree-level courses:

total applications are up 13.2% from 2,224,289 in 2009 to 2,517,100 in 2010.
nursing, design studies and law are the subject areas attracting the most applications, with 4.3%, 3.8% and 3.7% of choices in total.
within the top ten subject choices, those that have seen the biggest growth in applications are nursing with a 61.5% increase (although when adjusted for CATCH applicants this falls to 48.8% - see editors' note 5), design studies with a 34.8% rise (see editors' note 6), and social work with a 27% rise. See figure 6.

Mary Curnock Cook said: "I'm glad that increases are looking more manageable than earlier in the cycle, but this year's applications landscape is clearly more competitive than ever. For those that don't meet the conditions of their offer this year, the UCAS team is here to offer information and advice to help applicants make the right choices, which could include applying through Clearing, reapplying in future, accessing part-time or distance learning, or considering work-based options such as apprenticeships."

Applicants can contact UCAS Customer Services by calling 0871 468 0 468, online at www.ucas.com or by email to enquiries@ucas.ac.uk.

NOTES TO EDITORS

¹In previous years, there were two routes into art and design. Route A had the deadline of 15 January and Route B - for the collation of applicant portfolios - had a 24 March deadline. For most art and design courses starting in 2010, applicants apply by the normal 15 January deadline. For a minority of existing courses the deadline remains 24 March.

²The number of applicants aged 25-39 has risen from 58,572 in 2009 to 71,785 in 2010. The number of applicants aged 40+ has risen from 14,689 in 2009 to 18,105 in 2010.

³Applications previously processed by CATCH (Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House) have been processed by UCAS for the first time this year. A total of 6,915 applicants fall into this category, of which 5,694 are Scottish.

⁴All applicants for undergraduate courses can make up to 5 choices through UCAS.

⁵8,538 applications for degree-level courses that would previously have been processed by the CATCH system were received in the 2010 cycle.

⁶Some of this increase may be accounted for by the move from sequential Route B applications to concurrent Route A applications and as such the 2010 figure is not directly comparable with 2009 figures.

The tables below represent a summary of the data. For the complete list of statistical tables, please follow the link.

Figure 1a - Total applicants

Figure 1b - Comparison of applicants as at 30 June

Figure 1c - Tabular comparison of applicants as at 30 June showing percentage change

Figure 2 - Applicants by gender

Figure 3 - Applicants by age range

Figure 4a - Applicants by region as a proportion of total applicants
Note: these figures are not adjusted to take CATCH applicants into account.

Figure 4b - Applicants by domicile

Figure 4c - Applicants by country - top ten countries (including EU)

Figure 5 - Number of reappliers

Figure 6 - Top ten subject lines by number of applications
Note: these figures are not adjusted to take CATCH applicants into account.

Ends

UCAS is a charity and is the world's leading shared admissions service for higher education. We manage applications for full time undergraduate courses, together with applications through GTTR (Graduate Teacher Training Registry), CUKAS (Conservatoires UK Admissions Service) and UKPASS (UK Postgraduate Application and Statistical Service).

Since its inception in 1993, UCAS has processed around 30 million applications and placed over 5 million students on higher education courses.

Services include:

An informative website (www.ucas.com) enabling students and parents to access a wealth of information designed to help their application to higher education run smoothly.
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You can find the 30 June Application Digest here.

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