University and college applicants up 5.2% for 2007

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University and college applicants up 5.2% for 2007
25 April 2007

The latest snapshot of application figures to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions from UCAS shows that 446,765 people have so far applied to start courses in 2007.

This compares with 424,560 in 2006 and represents a rise of 5.2%. The snapshot of applications was taken at 24 March, the closing date for Art and Design Route B applications.

Applicants from the UK and EU are advised to submit their application by 15 January to ensure the best chance of securing the place that they want. However, it is still possible to apply right up until 30 June. Non-EU applicants can also apply until 30 June. After this date opportunities remain through Clearing in August.

Applicants from England are up by 6.0% on the same point last year, applicants from Wales down 0.2%, applicants from Scotland down 1.0% and applicants from Northern Ireland down 4.8%.

The number of people applying from EU countries (other than the UK) are up by 14.3% and applicants from countries outside of the EU are up 5.5%. China, Hong Kong and the USA remain amongst the biggest contributors of applicants from outside the EU.

The number of people applying to higher education institutions in England is up by 6.0%, to Welsh institutions down by 0.3%, to Scottish institutions up by 1.0% and to institutions in Northern Ireland down by 0.4%.

The proportion of female applicants at this point is 56.1%, the same as in 2006. The proportion of UK applicants from the "low" socio-economic groups (i.e. groups 4-7) has increased from 32.5% in 2006 to 32.8% in 2007. For English applicants only, the proportion from the "low" groups has increased from 31.9% to 32.3%. These figures have been calculated upon those for whom social class data is known. Due to the high level of unknowns, some caution should be exercised when analysing this data.

Table 1 - The number of applicants by 24 March; by entry cycle and gender

Year	Female	Male	Total
2007	250,739	196,026	446,765
2006	237,977	186,583	424,560
% change	5.4%	5.1%	5.2%

Table 2 - Applicants by declared Area of Permanent Residence

Year	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Other EU	Other Overseas	Total
2007	325,113	18,134	30,297	16,284	26,003	30,934	446,765
2006	306,624	18,164	30,608	17,107	22,740	29,317	424,560
% change	6.0%	-0.2%	-1.0%	-4.8%	14.3%	5.5%	5.2%

Table 3 - Applicants by age and declared area of permanent residence

		Area of Permanent Residence
		UK	Other EU	Other Overseas	Total
Under 21 years	2007	321,853	19,207	22,723	363,783
	2006	306,739	16,389	20,923	344,051
	% change	4.9%	17.2%	8.6%	5.7%
21 to 24 years	2007	33,796	5,081	5,142	44,019
	2006	31,404	4,646	5,281	41,331
	% change	7.6%	9.4%	-2.6%	6.5%
25 years and over	2007	34,179	1,715	3,069	38,963
	2006	34,360	1,705	3,113	39,178
	% change	-0.5%	0.6%	-1.4%	-0.5%%
Total	2007	389,828	26,003	30,934	446,765
	2006	372,503	22,740	29,317	424,560
	% change	4.7%	14.3%	5.5%	5.2%

Table 4 - Applicants by age and UK country of permanent residence

		Home country of applicant
		England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Total
Under 21 years	2007	269,489	14,499	24,078	13,787	321,853
	2006	253,439	14,538	24,570	14,192	306,739
	% change	6.3%	-0.3%	-2.0%	-2.9%	4.9%
21 to 24 years	2007	27,607	1,609	3,122	1,458	33,796
	2006	25,317	1,536	2,902	1,649	31,404
	% change	9.0%	4.8%	7.6%	-11.6%	7.6%
25 years and over	2007	28,017	2,026	3,097	1,039	34,179
	2006	27,868	2,090	3,136	1,266	34,360
	% change	0.5%	-3.1%	-1.2%	-17.9%	-0.5%
Total	2007	325,113	18,134	30,297	16,284	389,828
	2006	306,624	18,164	30,608	17,107	372,503
	% change	6.0%	-0.2%	-1.0%	-4.8%	4.7%

Table 5 - Applicants by declared area of permanent residence and country of institution

Home area of applicant		Country of institution
Home area of applicant		England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
England	2007	324,186	40,600	29,985	1,184
	2006	305,567	40,954	29,480	1,032
	% change	6.1%	-0.9%	1.7%	14.7%
Wales	2007	11,543	15,402	911	70
	2006	11,601	15,360	917	46
	% change	-0.5%	0.3%	-0.7%	52.2%
Scotland	2007	4,746	342	29,521	145
	2006	4,813	396	29,880	132
	% change	-1.4%	-13.6%	-1.2%	9.8%
Northern Ireland	2007	8,860	977	5,433	14,261
	2006	9,013	1,066	5,722	14,514
	% change	-1.7%	-8.3%	-5.1%	-1.7%
Other EU	2007	22,948	3,179	8,630	2,116
	2006	19,867	3,063	7,857	2,173
	% change	15.5%	3.8%	9.8%	-2.6%
Other overseas	2007	29,856	4,179	6,373	534
	2006	28,351	4,012	6,200	490
	% change	5.3%	4.2%	2.8%	9.0%
Total	2007	402,139	64,679	80,853	18,310
	2006	379,212	64,851	80,056	18,387
	% change	6.0%	-0.3%	1.0%	-0.4%

Note - An applicant has a maximum count of 1 to each 'country of institution'. If an applicant's choices include multiple countries then the applicant is counted once within each 'country of institution' present.

Table 6 - Applicants by overseas (including non-UK EU) country (> 600 applicants only)

Country	2007	2006	% change
Ireland	5,256	5,716	-8.0%
China	3,909	3,676	6.3%
Hong Kong	2,872	2,650	8.4%
Cyprus	2,746	2,026	35.5%
Germany	2,725	2,368	15.1%
Poland	2,202	1,738	26.7%
France	2,120	1,728	22.7%
United States of America	2,080	1,846	12.7%
Nigeria	2,003	2,337	-14.3%
Malaysia	1,961	1,795	9.2%
Pakistan	1,648	1,459	13.0%
India	1,555	1,393	11.6%
Greece	1,514	1,345	12.6%
Singapore	1,419	1,285	10.4%
Sweden	1,291	1,194	8.1%
Canada	1,051	902	16.5%
Italy	969	836	15.9%
Spain	826	756	9.3%
Norway	748	590	26.8%
Lithuania	737	557	32.3%
Belgium	689	656	5.0%
Korea (South)	670	644	4.0%
All overseas (incl. Non-UK EU countries)	56,937	52,057	9.4%

Table 7 - Applicants who had an Area of Permanent Residence within a 'new' EU member country by country of residence

Country	2007	2006	% change
Cyprus	2,746	2,026	35.5%
Poland	2,202	1,738	26.7%
Lithuania	737	557	32.3%
Bulgaria	462	165	180.0%
Latvia	398	289	37.7%
Czech Republic	275	248	10.9%
Romania	268	94	185.1%
Slovakia	245	212	15.6%
Hungary	243	218	11.5%
Estonia	232	180	28.9%
Malta	101	98	3.1%
Slovenia	53	49	8.2%
Total	7,962	5,874	35.5%

Table 8 - The number of applications (number of choices) by March 24 2007 by entry cycle, JACS subject line, degree, foundation degree or HND

Table 9 - Foundation degree, applicants and applications (number of choices)

	Applicants	Applications
2007	28,567	40,674
2006	23,506	32,797
% change	21.50%	24.00%

Table 10 - Applicants with a UK area of permanent residence by entry cycle, simplified version of the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) and country of residence

Applicants		England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Total
1. Higher managerial and professional occupations	2007	57,678	2,644	5,502	1,723	67,547
	2006	54,152	2,502	5,625	1,703	63,982
	% change	6.5%	5.7%	-2.2%	1.2%	5.6%
2. Lower managerial and professional occupations	2007	78,958	4,335	7,347	3,790	94,430
	2006	74,485	4,297	7,426	3,853	90,061
	% change	6.0%	0.9%	-1.1%	-1.6%	4.9%
3. Intermediate occupations	2007	35,636	2,159	3,466	2,422	43,683
	2006	34,167	2,056	3,536	2,456	42,215
	% change	4.3%	5.0%	-2.0%	-1.4%	3.5%
4. Small employers and own account workers	2007	19,295	1,121	1,766	1,785	23,967
	2006	17,922	1,202	1,750	1,841	22,715
	% change	7.7%	-6.7%	0.9%	-3.0%	5.5%
5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations	2007	11,831	779	1,226	779	14,615
	2006	11,276	773	1,237	785	14,071
	% change	4.9%	0.8%	-0.9%	-0.8%	3.9%
6. Semi-routine occupations	2007	36,035	2,186	3,284	1,831	43,336
	2006	33,089	2,191	3,100	1,903	40,283
	% change	8.9%	-0.2%	5.9%	-3.8%	7.6%
7. Routine occupations	2007	14,970	1,011	1,321	1,005	18,307
	2006	13,890	1,016	1,328	1,121	17,355
	% change	7.8%	-0.5%	-0.5%	-10.3%	5.5%
8. Not Classified - Unknown	2007	70,710	3,899	6,385	2,949	83,943
	2006	67,643	4,127	6,606	3,445	81,821
	% change	4.5%	-5.5%	-3.3%	-14.4%	2.6%
Total	2007	325,113	18,134	30,297	16,284	389,828
	2006	306,624	18,164	30,608	17,107	372,503
	% change	6.0%	-0.2%	-1.0%	-4.8%	4.7%

Media contacts

Byron Price, Communications Executive
Telephone: 01242 544987
Email: communications@ucas.ac.uk
Out of hours: 07768 740 461

Notes to editors

UCAS is the organisation responsible for managing applications to UK higher education courses.
Note that in the tabulations which specify "Other EU", the 2007 figures include both Bulgaria and Romania, but the 2006 figures exclude such countries (they were not in the EU in 2006 and are therefore accounted for as "Other Overseas"). The number of applicants from each of these countries is small (although showing a sharp increase) and so does not have much affect on the overall percentages.
The figures for this press release are taken as at 24 March 2007 and 24 March 2006.
'Applicants' refers to individuals applying through the UCAS scheme, submitting an UCAS application form to at least one course at a UCAS member institution.
'Applications' - the number of choices - each applicant may apply to up to six different courses/institutions. Only four of these choices may be courses in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science/medicine.
Applicants from the UK and European Union should apply by 15 January to ensure the best chance of securing a place on their desired course, but those from outside the EU have until 30 June to return their forms, unless applying to Oxford or Cambridge, or for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine/science or certain courses in art and design.
Data on the number of applications to individual institutions can be found in the March 24 Applications Digest.

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