Record fall in UK university applications for 2013

By Andrew Marszal. Applications by mid-November for university courses starting next year have dropped by a record amount, dashing hopes that last year's fall was a temporary blip. Only 120,000 British students had applied by mid-November to university courses starting next year, a decrease of more than 13,000 or nearly 10 per cent from the same stage last year.

Figures released today by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) showed a record percentage fall in the number of 18 year-olds living in the UK who had applied by this stage of the admissions cycle. Total demand among all students was down by 8.4 per cent against the same time last year. Students beginning university next year will be only the second cohort to pay at the higher rate of tuition fees, which were increased to a maximum of £9,000 per annum last year – almost treble the previous limit. The fees increase led to a sharp drop in applications last year, but hopes that this was a temporary dip will have been hit by today's figures, which show an even greater proportional fall at this stage compared with last year among British school leavers. More...