The figures also show that there has been a decrease of over 11% in applicants from EU countries, but the number of prospective students from outside the EU has increased by 13.7%. Simon Baker writes in the THE to say that “it is now the norm for at least 15% of a universities’ students to come from outside the country”. Referencing a HEPI report on Institutional Diversity in UK HE, he adds that “only 61 British institutions had passed this threshold in 1996-97, whereas in 2009-10 it was 102, well over half the total. The average proportion of non-UK students in each institution has increased by half in the same period to 21 per cent - fuelled by a rise in non-European Union students”.
The analysis from Universities Scotland shows that the proportion of English applicants to Scottish Universities has increased slightly, and it also shows Scotland has fared better in relation to EU and International students. Oddly there’s no mention of the change in the number of Scottish students in Scottish universities. The Universities UK press release from Chief Executive Nicola Dandridge says that “the dip is far less dramatic than many were initially predicting. And if we look at the number of 18-year-old applicants from the UK, this has dropped by only 3.6 per cent at a time when the overall 18-year-old population is in decline. The main issue now is whether students from certain backgrounds have been deterred more than others. Universities UK will continue monitoring the impact of the new system on groups of students and specific subjects”. David Willetts also has his say in an article in the Telegraph.