University applications 2013: what subjects are people applying for?

The number of total applicants to UK universities has risen by 3.5% according to UCAS figures. Photograph: Panacea Pictures/Alamy/Alamy

The number of applicants to UK universities has risen by 3.5% according to official figures published today.

The latest release from UCAS looks at the number of applicants in the 2013 cycle and includes all applications considered 'on time' for the 15 January deadline. Around 85% of overall applicants had applied by this time in the 2010 to 2012 application cycles.

The slight increase in applicants this year has been welcomed by universities, after applications fell last year prompted by a rise in tuition fees. Rebecca Ratcliffe writes today:

Universities have welcomed a 3.5% increase in the number of students applying to start university this autumn, but warn applications are still not back on trend.

An increase in the number of UK (2.8%) and overseas students (EU 4.9% and non-EU 9.6%) means application rates have recovered slightly on last year, when higher fees prompted a 8.7% fall in applications.

But Pam Tatlow, chief executive of the university thinktank Million+, points out that applications are still down when compared with January 2011 (-4.2%) and January 2010 (-2%).

The release is packed with interesting data and gives us our first indication of the demand for higher education in the UK this year. Here are the key figures:

Overall applications

Total applicant numbers are up - 558,898 in 2013 compared to 540,073 at the same point last year. The number of applicants from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland have increased although Wales saw a decrease of 2.1%.

Applications from EU countries has increased by 4.9% and the number of applicants from outside the EU has risen by 9.6%. At the same point last year applications were down from the UK and European countries. Of the non-European countries, Malaysia recorded the biggest rise in applicants at 22% followed by Australasia with a 12% increase.

Around 83% of overall EU applicants, and around 60% of overall non-EU applicants, had applied by the January deadline in the 2010 to 2012 application cycles.

Age

The number of UK 18-year olds applying to universities has risen very slightly, 0.8% compared to 2011, this represents an increase of just over 2,000 people. However of the total applicants (including applicants of European and non-European domicile) there has been a 1.8% drop in 18-year olds.

The biggest decrease in total applications by age group has been by those aged 30 to 39 years old - there are 842 less than last year. Last year the UCAS figures showed that the number of 19-year old applicants had dropped by over 17,000 since the previous year. The figures published today show that the biggest increase in total applications by age group has been 19-year olds - 10,894 more than in 2012.

The biggest percentage decrease for applications by age group has been for 40 year-olds and over with 7% less applicants from this age group than in 2012. The number of applications by 24-year olds has also decreased, down by 0.3%.

Gender

Male students may be outnumbered by females at most UK universities but the the total number of male applicants for the 2013 cycle has jumped by 3.8% compared to last year. Female applicants have increased by 3.2% and still outnumber male applicants with 319,752 female applicants compared to 239,146 male applicants in 2013.

Subject

Due to the increase in applications, many subjects have seen a slight rise in applications. Subjects allied to medicine have recorded the biggest rise in applicants - 17,414 more than in 2012 - followed by biological sciences. Computer sciences have seen the biggest percentage increase with a 12.3% rise in applications, representing an increase of 9,439 more applicants than last year.

It seems social sciences, arts and languages are feeling the biggest decreases; non-European and European language courses both recorded decreases of more than 6%. Applications for sciences combined with social sciences or arts are down by 4.5%.

The table below shows total applications by subject group. There are also tables showing applicants by UK region of domicile and by global region. the downloadable spreadsheet contains additional data on application breakdowns by age group, country of domicile and country of institution. What can you do with this data?

Data summary

Total applications by subject group

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Subject Group	2012	2013	Diff (+/-)	Diff (%)
Group A Medicine & Dentistry	94,374	96,268	1,894	2
Group B Subjects allied to Medicine	329,733	347,147	17,414	5.3
Group C Biological Sciences	201,653	215,545	13,892	6.9
Group D Vet Sci,Ag & related	24,747	26,654	1,907	7.7
Group F Physical Sciences	93,587	99,769	6,182	6.6
Group G Mathematical Sciences	42,148	43,681	1,533	3.6
Group H Engineering	117,221	127,080	9,859	8.4
Group I Computer Sciences	76,855	86,294	9,439	12.3
Group J Technologies	8,340	8,343	3	0
Group K Architecture,Build & Plan	35,825	35,042	-783	-2.2
Group L Social Studies	190,115	194,202	4,087	2.1
Group M Law	103,613	109,140	5,527	5.3
Group N Business & Admin studies	260,879	269,137	8,258	3.2
Group P Mass Comms and Documentation	47,575	50,643	3,068	6.4
Group Q Linguistics, Classics & related	62,266	62,119	-147	-0.2
Group R European Langs, Lit & related	21,675	20,353	-1,322	-6.1
Group T Non-European Langs, Lit and related	6,165	5,750	-415	-6.7
Group V Hist & Philosophical studies	73,967	75,636	1,669	2.3
Group W Creative Arts & Design	227,729	233,243	5,514	2.4
Group X Education	80,578	78,271	-2,307	-2.9
Y Combined arts	55,042	53,601	-1,441	-2.6
Y Combined sciences	33,898	35,349	1,451	4.3
Y Combined social sciences	26,581	26,500	-81	-0.3
Y Sciences combined with social sciences or arts	78,671	75,098	-3,573	-4.5
Y Social sciences combined with arts	51,007	49,688	-1,319	-2.6
Z General, other combined & unknown	24,321	26,041	1,720	7.1
Total	2,368,565	2,450,594	82,029	3.5

Applicants by UK region of domicile

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UK region	2012	2013	Diff (+/-)	Diff (%)
East Midlands	30,018	30,745	727	2.4
Eastern	39,191	40,683	1,492	3.8
Greater London	72,621	75,152	2,531	3.5
North East	16,887	17,469	582	3.4
North West	52,873	53,890	1,017	1.9
Northern Ireland	18,292	19,587	1295	7.1
Scotland	39,169	39,954	785	2
South East	61,799	63,109	1,310	2.1
South West	35,156	36,526	1,370	3.9
Wales	20,876	20,438	-438	-2.1
West Midlands	40,110	41,823	1,713	4.3
Yorks & The Humber	35,515	36,211	696	2
Total	462,507	475,587	13,080	2.8

Applicants by global region (other EU and non-EU only)

Click heading to sort

Global region	2012	2013	Diff (+/-)	Diff (%)
Africa	3,549	3,861	312	8.8
Americas	5,259	5,691	432	8.2
Australasia	532	596	64	12
EU (ex. Ireland)	30,771	32,539	1,768	5.7
Ireland	5,434	5,452	18	0.3
Europe (ex.EU)	3,537	4,178	641	18.1
Far E(ex HK/Mal)	17,517	18,977	1,460	8.3
Hong Kong	4,998	5,046	48	1
Malaysia	2,590	3,233	643	24.8
Middle East	3,297	3,674	377	11.4
Other Overseas	82	64	-18	-22
Total	77,566	83,311	5,745	7.4

Download the data

? DATA: download the full spreadsheet

? SOURCE: UCAS

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/jan/30/university-applications-subjects-age-gender-country

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