Final figures from UCAS, for students starting courses in 2006, show that the number of applicants for full-time undergraduate courses fell by 3.0%. In 2006, there were 506,304 people applying to universities and colleges in the UK, 390,890 of which were accepted. This compares to 522,155 applicants in 2005, of which 405,369 were accepted. This is a fall of 3.6% in accepted applicants.

However, over a longer time period the trend shows that applicants and acceptances continue to rise. Comparing 2006 with 2004 shows a 4.2% rise in applicants and a 3.5% rise in acceptances. The spike in applicants in 2005 is widely attributed to the introduction of variable fees, and a similar pattern was seen in 1998 following the introduction of fees in 1997. This longer term pattern is demonstrated by the graph below.

Anthony McClaran, Chief Executive of UCAS, commented: "The fall in the number of applicants for entry in September 2006 was considerably less than many predicted. The key question now is whether these figures represent a temporary blip or the start of a longer-term trend. Our figures for the 15 January advisory deadline for 2007 entry, which will be published next month, will begin to answer that question".

The number of accepted applicants to Welsh institutions grew by 0.4%, largely due to an 11.7% increase in Welsh students accepted at Welsh institutions.

The three subjects with the largest number of acceptances continue to be Law by area, Design Studies and Psychology. Pre-clinical Medicine and Social Work both demonstrate increases on 2005 of 2.4% and 6.5% respectively.

Acceptances from countries outside of the UK were up 0.4% between 2005 and 2006, from 45,125 to 45,326. The increase between 2004 and 2006 was 4.8%. Poland, Cyprus, Hong Kong, France and the US saw the largest rise in students accepted to UK universities and colleges.

Table 1 - Applicants and accepted applicants by gender (all domiciles)

Table 2 - Applicants and acceptances by age (all domiciles)

Table 3 - Accepted applicants (all domiciles) by age and gender

Table 4 - Accepted applicants (UK domiciled) by age and gender

Table 5 - Accepted applicants (UK domicile only) by age group and UK country of residence

Table 6 - Accepted applicants (all domiciles) by area of permanent residence and country of accepting institution

Table 7 - Accepted applicants from overseas domiciled applicants by country of domicile - countries with 600 or more acceptances in the 2006 cycle

Table 8 - Accepted applicants who had an Area of Permanent Residence within a 'new' EU member country by country of residence and gender

Media contacts

Byron Price, Communications Executive
Tel: 01242 544987
Email: communications@ucas.ac.uk
Mobile: 07768 740 461

Notes to editors

• UCAS is the organisation responsible for managing applications to UK higher education courses.

• A UCAS spokesperson is available for interview.

• The figures cited within this press release are for the close of file for 2006 entry, i.e. - for applicants who commenced courses in autumn 2006.

• Latest figures for the current 2007 cycle will be issued on Wednesday 14 February - please note that this date is subject to change.

• Table 8 does not include Bulgaria or Romania because they did not accede to the EU until 1 January 2007. For reference, there were 124 acceptances from Bulgaria in 2006 (up from 91) and 79 from Romania (up from 54).