Fewer apply for university places

Jan 3 2013

Fewer students in Scotland are applying for university next year, new figures have shown.

Admissions body UCAS said 14,052 people had applied by December 17, a fall of 3.9% compared with the same point the previous year.

The main deadline for students applying to university for this autumn is January 15.

Last year about 60% of those applying by this deadline submitted their application by December 2011, according to UCAS.

In England, where tuition fees were trebled last autumn to up to £9,000 per year, applications so far show a fall of 6.5%, and in Wales of 11.7%.

Only Northern Ireland saw an increase, up 0.5%.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Last year's overall UCAS figures showed an increase in the number of Scots accepted to study in Scottish universities, demonstrating the benefits of our decision to abolish tuition fees while the UK Government increased them.

"Today's figures suggest that applications from Scotland remain resilient compared to other parts of the UK, although the mid-December snapshot remains early days.

"We also understand that the mild winter has seen less of a push from some schools to get applications in before Christmas."