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2012 applicant figures - November

  1. It remains too early in the cycle to make predictions about eventual demand for entry to higher education in 2012. The majority of courses and universities have a 15 January deadline - application patterns this far ahead of that date are historically unreliable indicators of the eventual year-on-year change.
  2. For those universities and courses where the 15 October deadline applied (Oxford/Cambridge, all medicine, dentistry, veterinary science/medicine courses) and we can therefore take a meaningful view, the reduction in applicants was less than one percent (0.8 percent).
  3. The number of UK-domiciled 18-year-old applicants to courses where this 15 Oct deadline applied rose by 1.1 percent.

Data reported as at Monday 21 November 2011 (00:05:11)

Table 1: total applicants for all courses

Table 1: total applicants for all courses

2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
Total applicants 181,814 158,387 -23,427 -12.9%
Total choices 815,327 713,078 -102,249 -12.5%


Table 2: total applicants by gender

Table 2: total applicants by gender
By gender 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
Female 107,804 94,139 -13,665 -12.7%
Male 74,010 64,248 -9,762 -13.2%
Total 181,814 158,387 -23,427 -12.9%


Table 3: total applicants by age

Table 3: total applicants by age
By age 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
17 and under 2,940 2,914 -26 -0.9%
18 103,201 93,713 -9,488 -9.2%
19 36,622 30,068 -6,554 -17.9%
20 8,921 7,130 -1,791 -20.1%
21 4,754 3,936 -818 -17.2%
22 3,773 3,429 -344 -9.1%
23 3,164 2,585 -579 -18.3%
24 2,492 2,056 -436 -17.5%
25 to 29 6,930 5,499 -1,431 -20.6%
30 to 39 6,131 4,898 -1,233 -20.1%
40 and over 2,886 2,159 -727 -25.2%
Total 181,814 158,387 -23,427 -12.9%


Table 4a: total applicants by domicile (UK, other EU, non-EU)

Table 4a: total applicants by domicile (UK, other EU, non-EU)
By domicile 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
UK 157,116 133,357 -23,759 -15.1%
Other EU 10,392 9,034 -1,358 -13.1%
Non EU 14,306 15,996 1,690 11.8%
Total 181,814 158,387 -23,427 -12.9%


Table 4b: total applicants by domicile (UK only; arranged by country)

Table 4b: total applicants by domicile (UK only; arranged by country)
By UK country 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
England 140,983 119,548 -21,435 -15.2%
Northern Ireland 4,777 3,971 -806 -16.9%
Scotland 5,122 4,246 -876 -17.1%
Wales 6,234 5,592 -642 -10.3%
Total 157,116 133,357 -23,759 -15.1%


Table 4c: 18 year old applicants only by UK country

Table 4c: 18 year old applicants only by UK country
By UK country (18 only) 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
England 85,605 76,873 -8,732 -10.2%
Northern Ireland 2,882 2,445 -437 -15.2%
Scotland 2,251 1,966 -285 -12.7%
Wales 3,747 3,362 -385 -10.3%
Total 94,485 84,646 -9,839 -10.4%


Table 4d: total applicants by domicile (UK only; arranged by region)

Table 4d: total applicants by domicile (UK only; arranged by region)
By UK region 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
East Midlands 11,619 9,288 -2,331 -20.1%
Eastern 15,399 13,048 -2,351 -15.3%
Greater London 25,046 21,982 -3,064 -12.2%
North East 5,392 4,237 -1,155 -21.4%
North West 20,091 17,390 -2,701 -13.4%
Northern Ireland 4,777 3,971 -806 -16.9%
Scotland 5,122 4,246 -876 -17.1%
South East 25,914 21,974 -3,940 -15.2%
South West 13,462 11,137 -2,325 -17.3%
Wales 6,234 5,592 -642 -10.3%
West Midlands 13,041 11,117 -1,924 -14.8%
Yorks & The Humber 11,019 9,375 -1,644 -14.9%
Total 157,116 133,357 -23,759 -15.1%


Table 4e: total applicants by domicile (other EU and non-EU only)

Table 4e: total applicants by domicile (other EU and non-EU only)
By OS country 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
Africa 1,134 1,124 -10 -0.9%
Americas 2,234 2,425 191 8.5%
Australasia 277 344 67 24.2%
EU (ex. Eire) 8,785 7,752 -1,033 -11.8%
Eire 1,607 1,282 -325 -20.2%
Europe (ex.EU) 988 1,078 90 9.1%
Far E(ex HK/Mal) 5,915 6,734 819 13.8%
Hong Kong 1,706 2,248 542 31.8%
Malaysia 1,144 1,092 -52 -4.5%
Middle East 885 929 44 5.0%
Other Overseas 23 22 -1 -4.3%
Total 24,698 25,030 332 1.3%


Table 4f: total applicants by domicile and country of institution

Table 4f: total applicants by domicile and country of institution

Country of Institution
Domicile of Applicant
England N. Ireland Scotland Wales
England 2012 119,420 889 12,720 13,622
2011 140,788 811 13,763 16,486
% change -15.2% 9.6% -7.6% -17.4%
N. Ireland 2012 2,641 3,300 1,744 303
2011 3,338 3,895 2,163 401
% change -20.9% -15.3% -19.4% -24.4%
Scotland 2012 1,513 76 4,048 49
2011 1,871 54 4,829 101
% change -19.1% N/A -16.2% -51.5%
Wales 2012 4,681 32 408 3,919
2011 4,943 24 407 4,623
% change -5.3% N/A 0.2% -15.2%
Other EU 2012 8,378 329 3,949 624
2011 9,849 371 3,768 803
% change -14.9% -11.3% 4.8% -22.3%
Non EU 2012 15,795 242 4,368 1,135
2011 14,136 140 3,605 986
% change 11.7% 72.9% 21.2% 15.1%
Total 2012 152,428 4,868 27,237 19,652
2011 174,925 5,295 28,535 23,400
% change -12.9% -8.1% -4.5% -16.0%


Table notes:

  • An applicant has a maximum count of 1 to each 'country of institution'. If an applicant's choices include multiple countries then the applicant is counted once within each 'country of institution' present.
  • Percentage change has been omitted where the number of applicants is fewer than 100 for both years.


Table 5: total applicants by application month

Table 5: total applicants by application month
By application month 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
September 13,393 9,662 -3,731 -27.9%
October 85,550 80,969 -4,581 -5.4%
November 82,871 67,756 -15,115 -18.2%
Total 181,814 158,387 -23,427 -12.9%


Applicant volume by month Cumulative applicant volume by month

Table 6: total applications (choices) by JACS3 subject group

Table 6: total applications (choices) by JACS3 subject group
JACS3 Subject Group 2011 2012 Diff (+/-) Diff (%)
Group A Medicine & Dentistry 96,438 93,581 -2,857 -3.0%
Group B Subjects allied to Medicine 101,945 90,140 -11,805 -11.6%
Group C Biological Sciences 65,788 57,616 -8,172 -12.4%
Group D Vet Sci,Ag & related 12,754 12,832 78 0.6%
Group F Physical Sciences 40,827 37,981 -2,846 -7.0%
Group G Mathematical & Comp Sci 22,286 20,566 -1,720 -7.7%
Group H Engineering 38,215 35,131 -3,084 -8.1%
Group I Computer Sciences 14,476 12,038 -2,438 -16.8%
Group J Technologies 1,940 1,409 -531 -27.4%
Group K Architecture,Build & Plan 10,498 8,386 -2,112 -20.1%
Group L Social Studies 71,276 56,966 -14,310 -20.1%
Group M Law 37,396 32,917 -4,479 -12.0%
Group N Business & Admin studies 58,083 49,278 -8,805 -15.2%
Group P Mass Comms and Documentation 10,273 7,176 -3,097 -30.1%
Group Q Linguistics, Classics & related 30,528 27,137 -3,391 -11.1%
Group R European Langs, Lit & related 13,285 11,256 -2,029 -15.3%
Group T Non-European Langs and related 3,532 2,723 -809 -22.9%
Group V Hist & Philosophical studies 36,285 32,698 -3,587 -9.9%
Group W Creative Arts & Design 36,839 27,246 -9,593 -26.0%
Group X Education 22,560 18,358 -4,202 -18.6%
Y Combined arts 20,329 16,329 -4,000 -19.7%
Y Combined sciences 11,072 9,776 -1,296 -11.7%
Y Combined social sciences 8,500 6,981 -1,519 -17.9%
Y Sciences combined with social sciences or arts 21,104 15,246 -5,858 -27.8%
Y Social sciences combined with arts 19,250 15,942 -3,308 -17.2%
Z General, other combined & unknown 9,848 13,369 3,521 35.8%
Total 815,327 713,078 -102,249 -12.5%


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