More UK students than ever are applying for university

More than ever, increasing numbers of students across the UK are applying to study at university. UCAS applicants are increasing annually with higher interest in studying at a higher education provider… But why? And how many more students are applying year-by-year? 

Total Applications Overall

Recent UCAS application cycles have seen an overall rise by 2.5% in the number of students applying for university. That’s around 619,290 by the June deadline! 

However, contrasting to this, a record decrease of 4.3% was seen in 18-year-old students! This might be due to more difficulty in funding university studies with the cost of living putting increased pressure on young people, perhaps making them wait a little longer before starting a degree…

International Student Applicants

A 6.3% increase in international students applying for UK universities has been seen in recent years, driven primarily by non-EU countries (perhaps with increased brexit-associated challenges with studying in the UK, with a decrease of 3.3% in students from EU countries). 

International applicants from countries like Pakistan, the UAE, and USA have all increased significantly within the past couple of years. 

Popular Courses + Subject Areas

Business and Law, Medicine, and Computing are said to be some of the most popular courses with high numbers of applicants across the most recent few UCAS cycles. 

Computing courses, in particular, have seen record highs in interested applicants with more and more tech-related jobs becoming available every year.  

Financial Challenges and Cost of Living 

With the rising costs of living hitting students particularly hard in the past few years, this could severely impact many applicants' choices when applying for university. 

Could we see a further decrease in younger students applying and opting to attend university later on? How would an inevitable increase in tuition fees impact application numbers? Only time will tell!