Number of university students increases

The number of graduates in the UK is set to keep on rising as figures released by UCAS have shown 413,430 people were accepted onto undergraduate courses in 2007.

This represents an increase of 5.8% compared to the previous year, with a further 22,540 embarking on higher-education courses than in 2006. The number of applicants to universities has grown to 534,495, a 5.6% rise.

Chief Executive of UCAS, Anthony McClaran, commented that the introduction of tuition fees has not affected the number of freshers enrolling in university courses.

'These figures are encouraging news for the higher-education sector and demonstrate that students' desire for a university education in the UK has not diminished,' he said.

He described the rise in applications as 'an impressive recovery' following a dip last year.

More women than men are continuing to study at university, with 54.1% of new undergraduates being female, up from 53.8% in 2006.

The number of students from low socio-economic groups increased to account for 32.4% of the 2007 intake.

UCAS has also discovered that the number of university applications for 2008 is up 0.9% compared to the same time last year.