The number of 18-year-olds applying for early deadline courses, including Oxford, Cambridge, and medicine has fallen, new UCAS data reveals. Despite this, there has been a 1.3% increase in overall applications, with the number of mature applicants (over 21 years old) rising by 3% and international applications rising by 4.7%.
Applications to medicine courses have fallen by 3.3% – the lowest number since 2020. The peak demand for studying undergraduate medicine was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this figure has slowly declined since. For Oxford University, medicine has one of the highest number of applicants per place at Oxford; it is also the only course subject to a government restriction on the number of international students admitted for fees purposes.
Of international students, China remains the largest demographic applying to early deadline courses, and has seen a 14% increase from last year’s statistics. UCAS Chief Executive Dr Jo Saxton said: “It’s welcome news to see that global confidence in the UK’s higher education sector remains strong, with an increase in international undergraduate applicants to UK universities and colleges for early deadline courses.”
The number of applications from 18-year-old students of disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds (in the POLAR 4, Quintile 1 classification) has remained the same. UCAS has also introduced a new free school meals waiver, allowing students who received free school meals within the past six years to skip the £28.50 application fee.
Saxton said: “As the rising cost-of-living continues to present challenges to everyone, particularly those suffering financial hardship, I am keen to ensure that at UCAS, we do everything we can to support students in taking their next step.”
In Oxford’s 2023 -2024 admissions cycle, 21.2% of UK undergraduates came from the “least advantaged backgrounds”, with 7.6% of these being eligible for free school meals.Recently, the Labour Government’s Education Secretary announced that tuition fees will go up to £9,535 – or 3.1% – for home students in England starting from next year, marking the first increase in eight years.
