Today UCAS publishes its first statistical release of the 2016 undergraduate cycle, for courses with an October deadline (15 October 2015) only.
15 October is the 'equal consideration' deadline for most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses, as well as all courses at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford.
The total number of applicants to 15 October deadline courses is 56,630, up from 56,360 last year – an increase of less than 1%.
2016 applicant figures - October deadline
2016 applicant figures for medicine only - October deadline
Key figures for the 2016 cycle October deadline:
Total applicants from the UK have decreased by 1% from 38,720 in 2015 to 38,330 this year. But first-time UK applicants have risen by 1% from 33,460 to 33,690. UK 18 year old applicants have also increased by 1% to 26,540, despite a fall in the population of 2%, indicating that application rates have risen.
The number of UK applicants who are reapplying after a previous application has fallen by 12% from 5,260 in 2015 to 4,640 this year. This fall in reappliers is consistent with the increase in acceptance rates in the 2015 cycle for young applicants.
There are falls in total applicant numbers from England (-1%), Northern Ireland (-3%), and Wales (-2%) with no change from Scotland.
The number of international applicants has increased. There is an 8% rise in applicants from the EU (from 6,340 in 2015 to 6,860 this year) and a 1% increase from outside the EU (from 11,310 to 11,440).
There are 20,100 applicants to medicine courses, a similar number to last year. There are 14,820 medicine applicants from the UK, 3% fewer than last year as a result of an 18% fall in those reapplying. New UK applicants applying to medicine have increased by 2% to 12,150.
Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS Chief Executive, said: “Applications to this deadline are similar to last year, though the high demand for applicants with top grades last cycle has meant fewer needing to reapply.
"October deadline courses are attracting more overseas applicants each year with a notable increase this year in demand from EU applicants.
“Fewer than 10% of applicants apply by this deadline and we need to wait until the main January deadline before the fuller picture of demand for HE in 2016 emerges.”
Students have been able to submit applications for all 2016 courses from early September.
This release only covers applicants selecting courses with a 15 October deadline and is a near complete measure of the demand for these courses.
15 January is the deadline for most courses. We will publish these applicant figures on 4 February this year.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Applicants to courses in Northern Ireland are not shown separately in the tables to avoid disclosing figures for individual universities before the admissions cycle has closed.
Application and acceptance figures for the courses and universities within the 15 October deadline are published in January each year as part of our End of Cycle Data Resources. For example, End of Cycle data for the 2015 cycle will be published on 21 January 2016.
You can see the current End of Cycle tables (from 2006-2014) here.
Our updated Timetable of Data and Analysis covering UCAS’ analytical programme for the 2016 cycle can be found here.