Rise in applications

The latest Universities and Colleges Admissions Service figures show that applications to full-time UK undergraduate courses are up by 5.2 per cent on last year, to 446,765. Overseas applications have risen by 14.3 per cent for European Union countries and by 5.5 per cent for outside the EU. The proportion of UK applicants from low socioeconomic groups is up from 32.5 per cent in 2006 to 32.8 per cent in 2007.

The proportion of applicants from England from low socio-economic groups is up from 31.9 per cent to 32.3 per cent, but a high proportion of applicants' socioeconomic backgrounds are unknown.