Latest figures from the organisation show that the number of applicants who have withdrawn from courses after their places were confirmed is 6,739, compared with 6,897 last year.

Students starting higher education courses this year will have to pay means-tested tuition fees of up to £1,000 a year. Critics said this would adversely affect the number of applicants.

The Chief Executive of Ucas, Tony Higgins, said: "People are not turning down places in higher education because of tuition fees, despite fears in some quarters that they would be put off.

"Our figures show the demand for higher education remains extremely strong, and there is no evidence to support speculation that some people who applied would change their minds when the time came to confirm their places.

Tony Higgins: "We are very pleased with the way clearing is going"

"The number of people withdrawing from the system at the moment is almost exactly the same as last year, when the places awarded during clearing shot up as people tried to get in before tuition fees.

"The number of withdrawals is well down on the same point in 1996, which was a more comparable year."

Ucas is currently running the clearing system - the process of matching students whose grades were lower than expected with spare university places.

By Wednesday morning, 256,452 applicants had secured a place at a higher education institution, compared with 249,576 in 1997.

However, the higher figure for this year reflects the quicker processing of applicants because of the absence of major problems in processing examination results.

Ucas admits it is too early to say whether the total number of applicants accepted last year - 336,338 - will be exceeded.

Although the present number of accepted applicants is up 2.8% on the same time last year, the total number of applicants going through the Ucas system in 1998 is 2.4% lower than at the same date last year.

The President of the National Union of Students, Andrew Pakes, said: "It's far too early to tell about university take up, but I can understand why the university admissions system is talking the figures up.

"We believe that a large proportion of would-be students are thinking again."