Strong levels of interest for courses at Midland universities despite national fall

Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), 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 coming from the European Union.

There has also been a fall in nursing applications with the Royal College of Nursing blaming the 23 per cent drop on the removal of bursaries.

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. Last year we had 16 applications for every children's nursing place and this year it is 12 applications per place."

Bosses at Staffordshire University also confirmed a drop in applications.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that our applications reflect the national picture, but with some notable exceptions – our applications from EU citizens have increased by more than 10 per cent and we have received some notable increases in subjects like computer science – 35 per cent, computer games design – 48 per cent, computer games programming – 120 per cent – and policing – 23 per cent.

"Applications for our nursing and midwifery degrees have decreased on last year, but as we are heavily oversubscribed in these areas we are confident of recruiting enough high quality applicants to our courses."

Bosses at University Centre Shrewsbury say they are also bucking the trend. Deputy provost Paul Kirkbright 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."

Harper Adams University, Newport, says its current level of applications is on par with the number at the same time in 2016.

The university's Jaclyn Green said: "We always aim to welcome about 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.

"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," she said.

"We believe this is because students are becoming more familiar with the system and the ability to not only change their minds after applying through Ucas, but in some cases to not apply at all until the spring and even summer before they would start their course."