Commenting on the publication of UCAS application figures for the 15 January deadline, GuildHE CEO, Andy Westwood, said:

“GuildHE welcomes the increase in UCAS applications for 2013 and we are pleased that, contrary to earlier speculation, there were significant numbers of people applying later in the cycle compared to previous years. We also note and expect that many more applications are still likely for 2013 – 15th January is not a hard deadline and we usually see tens of thousands of applications from February onwards, both through UCAS and independently.

“It is interesting to see that the additional 3.5% (3% in England) seems to be largely driven by 18 and 19 year olds despite the demographic dip in the overall cohort size. We also note significant increases in EU (4.9%) and international (9.6%) applications and hope that all three are continuing trends.

“Whilst the overall figures are already the third highest level of applications on record (behind 2011 and 2010) there are still areas for concern. We must look again at how we improve a system that should be more accessible for older applicants, for part timers and for those already in work. We cannot afford to concentrate our efforts largely on school and college leavers.”

ENDS

For more information and comment:
Andy Westwood
Tel: 020 7387 7711
Email: andy.westwood@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. UCAS figures are published at https://www.ucas.com/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2013/20130130c