Tsl education have reported that UK University applications for undergraduate places have hit a record high for the fourth year running, the number of applications have risen 23 percent since 2009 and many schools have seen an even bigger increase than this.
The Universities and Colleges Admission Services (UCAS) stated that there were signs that the recession was prompting people to apply to increase their qualifications. Another factor that may be influencing the rise in the number of application is that some art and design courses have made their deadlines earlier. There has also been a rise in the number of applicants reapplying from 2009, this has risen 46 percent with 46,012 of this years applicants also previously applied in 2009. This includes those who decided against taking a course or who were rejected.
The table below lists the universities that had the biggest rise in applications compared to 2009.
| Institution | Applications | % change |
| University of the Arts London | 26,478 | +111.0 |
| University for the Creative Arts | 8,727 | +93.8 |
| Edinburgh Napier University | 15,019 | +78.5 |
| Thames Valley University | 9,139 | +75.5 |
| Univerisity of the West of Scotland | 9,417 | +65.3 |
| University of Bedfordshire | 14,574 | +54.5 |
| Bucks New University | 7,963 | +54.0 |
| The Robert Gordon University | 8,748 | +53.0 |
| Anglia Ruskin University | 13,141 | +52.7 |
| De Montfort University | 24,607 |
+51.5 |
Source:TSL Education article 'Please sirs, can we have some more cash to cope?'
The president of UK universities, Steve Smith, has called for extra places to be made available but stressed that they must be funded as appose to last year where ‘emergency’ places were opened by the Government but no extra funding was given to them to help support the extra applicants. Hopefully this will not be the case this year.