The number of applications to UK universities has fallen from last year’s peak, figures show, with the proportion applying to elite institutions hitting record levels.
Final deadline data from Ucas shows 319,570 UK 18-year-olds applied by the June 30 deadline – 2 per cent fewer than in 2022, though still the second-highest on record.
Reversing last year’s trend, 40.8 per cent of their applications were to higher-tariff institutions – the joint-highest on record.
This suggests young applicants have not so far recalibrated their ambition after the cutbacks in UK intakes at those universities last year, Mark Corver, dataHE co-founder, told Times Higher Education.
