However that is not the whole story: the numbers are deceptive as the registration deadline has been brought forward.
Prospective students have to register for a degree by 1 May this year, for the first time. If they register after that date, the degree programme can refuse them. The deadline has been brought forward because of the so-called study check, in which the student’s expectations are assessed in the light of the degree content to check that there is a good match. The idea is that this will reduce the dropout rate at academic and applied universities.
The change in the final registration date has led to some amazing growth figures. Economics and Policy, for instance, is up by 287 percent and Landscape Architecture by 172 percent. Not all school leavers by a long way have registered for a university degree so far. The national figure is about 42,000, whereas last year around 63,000 had registered by the end.