Shropshire's universities buck fall in admissions
University applications have fallen in the UK – but there is a mixed picture in the Midlands.
Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service up to the January deadline for courses starting in the autumn, show a five per cent drop in UK students and seven per cent drop in students from the European Union – totalling about 564,000.
Nationally, there has been a fall in nursing applications, with the Royal College of Nursing blaming the 23 per cent drop on the removal of bursaries.
But bosses at University Centre Shrewsbury says it is bucking the trend. Paul Kirkbright, deputy provost at University Centre Shrewsbury, said: "Our application figures for this coming academic year are bucking the national trend, with a 35 per cent increase on this time last year.
"We're constantly monitoring applications to see how we are performing compared to previous years.
"At this early stage in the recruitment cycle for academic year 2017/18, we are not in a position to share specific application figures due in part to commercial sensitivity and also to the fact that applications continue to be received on a daily basis."
Harper Adams University, in Newport, says its current level of applications is on par with the number at the same time in 2016.
University spokeswoman Jaclyn Green said: "We always aim to welcome approximately 650 new students each September, a target which has been met or exceeded in recent years.
"We are in a position of consolidating rather than growing numbers, to ensure the best possible experience for our students.
"It is worth noting that while the number of EU students declined nationally in 2015/16, numbers of EU students rose at Harper Adams."
She said the apparent trend of declining numbers nationally might be explained by a change in the way students approach the applications process.
Ms Green added: "Since the government removed the student number cap in 2014/15 the university applications cycle has been extending, essentially now running all year round rather than being constricted to the October to January and then August clearing periods."
Applications have fallen at the University of Wolverhampton, but bosses say the demand for courses remains high and many applicants apply direct to the university.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Layer said: "Applications through the Ucas system are generally down, but increasingly demand for our courses comes in a different way and at different times which is why we have grown our student numbers over the last few years. In relation to nursing applications, our nursing courses are always popular and often oversubscribed."
It comes as fees in England are rising again, and it is the first fall in UK applications since fees were last increased in 2012. Universities minister Jo Johnson said that despite the overall drop, more 18-year-olds were applying to go to university.
The fall in applications in England of six per cent has been three times greater than in Scotland at two per cent, which remains without tuition fees.
Applications from Wales fell most, by seven per cent, and Northern Ireland by five per cent.
