Strong rise in UK undergraduates

Business-related courses are proving very popular

There was a 9.7% rise in the number of full-time undergraduates starting UK higher education courses this year.

The total applying was 582,657 which was 9.5% higher than in 2007, according to admissions service Ucas.

This included more than 13,000 people who previously would have gone through the nursing and midwifery diplomas admissions service, NMAS.

Excluding them from the numbers accepted onto courses, the year-on-year increase in students was 6.3%.

"These figures make 2008 a record breaking year in terms of both those applying and those being accepted to full-time higher education courses," Ucas said.

"The increase in both applicants and acceptances is particularly strong in England, but all parts of the UK saw higher numbers."

Chief executive Anthony McClaran said: "This has been a remarkable year for applications to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK.

"Demand has not simply remained steady it has increased very significantly, on top of last year's strong growth."

Women dominate

Most formerly-NMAS applicants are: English women aged over 25 years and from lower socio-economic groups.

In keeping with what is now a long-established trend, women dominate the undergraduate numbers, outnumbering men by five to four (249,294 to 202,577).

The increase in the number of women this year was 11.7% compared with 7.3% for men.

A striking feature of the 2008 freshers is a shift in the numbers coming from eastern European countries.

Students from Poland fell by a quarter to 1,500, while those from Bulgaria and especially Romania more than doubled, albeit from much lower starting points, to 821 and 622.

There are 17.1% more Indian students. And there are 22.3% more from China - very nearly 6,000 of them altogether and easily the largest overseas contingent.

Warning

The biggest growth in subject popularity is in courses offering combinations of business and administration studies, up more than 21% to 9,254 students.

Almost one in 10 students found their place through the Clearing system.

Strong growth in student numbers is an international feature.

But a major annual survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned earlier this year that in the UK, the growing number of graduates risks widening a social gap.

Its report showed that on average 56% of school leavers in advanced economies now enter university courses.

But there were fears that in the UK low achievers were falling behind.