University applications up a fifth on last year

Hundreds of thousands of would-be students are likely to be left without a place at a UK university this year, as undergraduate applications reach record levels for the fourth year running. Applications for university are almost a fifth up on last year, according to the latest figures from the university admissions system Ucas. So far, over 570,000 students have applied for a place at university this autumn, an increase of more than 100,000 on the same time in 2009. Applications close in June. Last year, about 480,000 people got a place at university, after 633,000 applied. This year, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) has confirmed there will be 6,000 fewer places for full-time undergraduates, meaning that hundreds of thousands will not be accepted on to a undergraduate degree course. UK applicants are up 22.1%, while overseas applicants have risen from 55,245 to 71,105 (up 28.7%). The biggest increases are among students from Lithuania (102.3%), Ireland (50.4%), Germany (23.7%) and China (22.4%). Mary Curnock Cook, Ucas's chief executive, said: "This cycle will be very challenging and competitive for applicants. There has been a steady increase year-on-year since 2007, but this year shows a sizeable leap in applications. Part of the increase in demand for university places may be due to the recession. Applications from the over-25s jumped 63.4%, while those from 21- to 24-year-olds rose 44.8%. There was also a 45.5% increase in people reapplying. Curnock Cook believes "the current economic situation is causing people to apply to higher education as a way of retraining to ready themselves for the job market once the economy picks up. For instance, social work has seen a 41.3% increase and nursing a 73.7% rise." Professor Steve Smith – president of Universities UK, the body that represents vice-chancellors – said: "With this further jump in demand and the continued cap on student numbers in England, it's inevitable that we are going to see even more pressure on places this year – and the strong possibility of many well-qualified students missing out." The figures have fuelled calls on the government to halt its planned higher education cuts. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the lecturers' union UCU, said: "The government is abandoning a generation who, instead of benefiting from education, will find themselves on the dole alongside sacked teaching staff." Paul Marshall, executive director of the 1994 Group of universities, said the government must not respond to the record demand with unfunded expansion. "With universities already having to cope with significant funding cuts, unfunded expansion could leave universities unable to ensure the high quality experience that students rightly demand. Any further expansion must be fully funded. And the presdent of the National Union of Students, Wes Streeting, backed his call: "Last year, the government urged universities to expand without providing the funding to match, leading to a serious applications crisis. This year there must be no unfunded expansion, or the situation will be even worse. But Professor David Green, vice-chancellor of theUniversity of Worcester – where applications are up 35% on last year – said many other universities would be happy to take on additional students for no extra funding if it meant "giving more people the chance to enter higher education at this time of national economic stringency". "Universities and higher education colleges need to be allowed to recruit more full-time undergraduate students, without penalty," he said. "Many will do so, even if we receive no additional government funding for these additional students, as we appreciate the real needs of the potential students concerned. We are fully committed to the policy of widening participation in higher education and we are prepared to make sacrifices at a time of real economic difficulty." The minister for higher education, David Lammy, said: "There is a record number of students – over 2 million – at university. That's 390,000 more than in 1997 and next year we expect there will be more students than ever before. "But getting a place at university has always been, and should be, a competitive process. Not everyone gets the grades and some decide university is not for them. It's early days and students haven't even sat their A-levels yet. "University is not the only choice for young people. The government has hugely increased the range of equally worthwhile opportunities for young people: 100,000 foundation degree places; 35,000 new advanced apprenticeships over the next two years; and 104,000 new jobs through the Future Jobs Fund."