University applications from UK-born students fall 15%

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Source: The Guardian

The number of UK-born students who have applied to start university next year has fallen by 15%, according to official figures from the university admissions service. Autumn 2012 is when fees at many universities will rise to £9,000 a year.

The latest statistics, published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), show 133,357 applicants have applied from within the UK, compared with 157,116 this time last year.

Universities and politicians have worried that the decision to almost treble tuition fees to up to £9,000 next year will deter thousands of students, particularly the poorest, from applying. Students can pay the fees with a student loan, which they start repaying when they are earning more than £21,000 a year after leaving university.

But the figures suggest that the fall in the number applying to university since last year is mostly owing to a glut of applications in 2010 in anticipation of the fees rise. In 2010, the number of applicants from within and outside the UK combined was 162,706, while the number from those born in the UK came to 139,875.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/28/university-applications-uk-students-fees