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Photo: University of St. Andrews
Demand for places at Scottish universities from applicants living in Scotland has increased according to new figures from the current applications cycle.
Published today by the universities admissions service, UCAS, the figures show applications from Scottish residents to Scottish universities have increased by almost 2.5% compared with last year. Looking specifically at Scottish school leavers, UCAS reports that 20,810 have applied for a place at a Scottish university – up 4% from 2023.
There is also evidence in today’s figures of further progress towards fairer access to university. The proportion of applicants from Scotland’s 20% most deprived communities to UK universities continues to increase, with 17.4% of applicants in the current cycle coming from those areas. For 18 year olds in this group, the application rate rises to 20.7%
Beyond Scotland, there has been a fall in the number of applicants from the European Union with a decrease of 5.7% on last year. Non-EU figures appear to be plateauing with a decrease of 1.7%.
Commenting on the data, SFC’s Interim Chief Executive, Martin Boyle, said:
“It’s encouraging to see an increase in demand for a place at a Scottish university from Scottish applicants.
“It’s especially good to find evidence in today’s figures of young people in the most deprived areas of the country taking the first step towards the life-changing experiences universities can provide. We will continue to monitor the applications cycle as we move past results day next month and into the clearing phase.”
