Fears that institutions may not fill places

* More people have been accepted by universities this year, but fears that institutions may not be able to fill places remain.

The latest figures show that, as of Wednesday, there were 332,400 applicants who had found a place at university. This is up marginally on last year (326,484), but there are an estimated 52,000 extra places available this year.

The total number of applicants was down from 436,606 last year to 436,153. There are, however, more places to be allocated.