Higher Education News
Friday 15 Jul 2016
Almost 100,000 more women than men applied to UK universities this year
There were 94,000 more women than men applying to university this year, according to new figures.
UCAS has revealed that, by the 30 June deadline this year, a total of 593,720 people applied to full-time courses in UK higher education.
But this included significantly more men than women, marking a continuation of the gender gap in university education.
The overall figure marks a small increase of 1,430 applicants compared to last year - a statistically insignificant value below one per cent. But there has been a decrease in applicants from the UK for the first time since tuition fees were trebled in 2012.
There were 344,000 women in the 2016 applicants, while there were just 250,000 men.
The gender gap between these two groups has grown consistently over the last five years, from 79,000 in 2012 to 94,000 this year.
These figures also showed how women dominate every age group when it comes to University applications, with the biggest gender gap among mature students. Almost three times as many over-30s women applied compared to men, 23,000 compared to 8,000.
Girls also perform better than boys when it comes to exam results.
There were 495,940 British applicants, down almost 2,000 from the year before. The number of EU students applying to British universities rose by six per cent to a record high of 45,220, and applications from outside the EU also rose, by 500 candidates to 52,560.
While the increase in EU applicants could be put down to students trying to make the most of the current situation, ahead of Britain's recent Brexit vote, the increase in European students was actually less than the year before.
There were 25 per cent more applications from Europe in 2016 than there were before fees rose in 2012.
There was a rise in the number of mature students, however. 48,000 over thirties applied to full-time courses, an increase of seven per cent for women and just one per cent for men.
Source: The Telegraph
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