The number of UK applicants rose more slowly than those from abroad

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service said 450,147 people had applied for a degree courses, up 12,532, or 2.9% from last year.

The number of students from within the EU seeking a place increased by 7,103 to 66,275, a rise of 12%.

Those from the 10 countries which joined the EU in May were up by 138%.

Fees

However, the number was still relatively small, at 3,174.

UK applications went up 1.4%, or by 5,429 from 378,443 to 383,872.

EU students are treated in a similar way to domestic undergraduates.

They have to pay fees - currently �1,175 a year - but are not allowed to claim grants.

From 2006, when variable tuition fees come in, they will also be able to defer payment until after they graduate.

Ucas said applications from foreign students from outside the EU had risen 5.6% from 40,666 to 42,947 from 40,666.

On Tuesday, Universities UK president Ivor Crewe insisted that universities which took non-EU students with lower grades were not depriving British people of places.

Universities were set quotas of British students by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which funded their places.

But universities still lost money on every UK and EU student, which forced them to take more from overseas because they paid the full fee, which could be �10,000 a year or more, he said.

Ucas chief executive Anthony McClaran said: "UK higher education continues to attract significant and growing numbers of international students against a background of strong competition from other English-speaking countries."