Great Britain: UCASA reports a rise in university applications

2008-07-18 04:09:17 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Education)

London, England (WiredPRNews.com) — The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has revealed new figures reporting that applications to universities in the UK have seen a rise of 9.1% as compared to last year. Approximately 540,100 applicants got a boost to their applications by including midwifery and nursing diploma courses. However, if the applications for these courses are excluded, the number of applications still sees an increase by at least 6.4%.

The figures show that young men have been left behind in the quest for education on the degree level. Women were the minority until 1992 but after that, the numbers started changing in the opposite direction. In 2007, the proportion of males applying for a degree course fell from 37% to 35% while those of females rose to 45% from 41%. The figures also reveal that the balance has more weight on the women’s side as the applications rose from 11% to 302,945 while in males only 6.8% to 235,162.

Despite the fact that the government is investing a large amount of money widening university access and expanding degree courses to enroll more students belonging to disadvantaged backgrounds, the number of applications from England classifieds in lower socio-economic groups has risen by only 1% from 28.8% during 2007 to 29.6% this year. There is also a rise of 6.4% in the number of foreign students. The majority of them are from China.

There is also a giant increase in the applications from new European Union state members including 750 from Romania (increased by 92.3% from 549 during 2007) and 1,050 from Bulgaria (increased by 114.5% from 352 during 2007).

Wired International Reporter