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 | | Thursday, 11 April, 2002, 23:00 GMT 00:00 UK Rise in university applications  Applications for university are rising More people are applying to do university courses in the UK this autumn - including a growing number of students from abroad. Official figures say the number of people who applied to do a degree or other higher education course by late March was up 5,625 on last year to 378,886. That is a rise of 1.5% compared with the 0.8% annual increase registered by the same time last year. The trend has been supported by a growing number of applications from overseas. Maths slump The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said just over 3,000 of the latest applications came from abroad. The biggest surge in interest from abroad continues to come from China, with applications from there up 77% on last year. There have been more than 4,000 applications from China for this autumn, compared to nearly 2,300 last year. Other countries which have shown a bigger interest in degrees in the UK include Nigeria (applications up 68%), Ghana(up 43%) and the USA (up 30%).
There was a 12% fall in applications to study maths in the 12 months to the end of March. The year to the end of February also saw a drop of 12%. To combat the shortage of classroom maths teachers, the government needs to recruit four out of ten maths graduates to teaching. The figures show a continuing rise in the popularity of e-applications. By the end of March, 125,371 people had applied electronically, up 57% on the same time last year. Ucas chief executive Tony Higgins said: "The continued increase in applicants is good news for UK higher education. "Of particular interest is the rise in the number of applicants using our electronic applications system. "This demonstrates the impact of new technology on schools, careers agencies and British Council offices as they seek to streamline the way they handle Ucas applications." | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Education stories now:  Links to more Education stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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