The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) today released figures showing applications to higher education courses at UK higher and further education institutions at 19 December 2011.

Commenting on the figures, GuildHE CEO, Andy Westwood, said:

"It is encouraging to see that the rate of applications is picking up and now compares well to 2010 figures. This bears out our initial expectation that potential students were taking longer to weigh up their options and make their decisions. Hopefully this will continue right up to the deadline later this month. However, there are still concerns thrown up in the UCAS data with particular drops amongst older age groups that will need to be monitored closely across both full and part time applications as admissions for 2012/13 continue."

ENDS

For more information and comment:

Contact
Dee Easter
Tel: 020 7387 7711
Email: dee.easter@guildhe.ac.uk

Notes to editors

1. GuildHE is a recognised higher education representative body. For a list of GuildHE institutions, please visit: https://www.guildhe.ac.uk/en/members-list/ 

2. The UCAS applicant figures for December can be found at https://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/2012applicantfigures