Applications are also down on last year

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said 344,964 had a place for this autumn, down almost 14,000 from 358,315 in 2005.

But the number of applicants also fell, meaning the 71% acceptance rate was only slightly down from 71.2%.

This autumn's intake from England and Northern Ireland will be the first to pay fees of up to �3,000 a year.

Surge last year

It is thought that last year's surge in acceptances - from 331,027 in 2004 - was a blip partly caused by students who skipped having a gap year to avoid the higher payments.

This year's figure represents a 4.2% increase on 2004.

The clearing system, for people who apply for places after their A-level or equivalent exams or fail to get a place at their chosen university, is currently in full swing.

After 13 days, 16,289 have been accepted using clearing, up from 15,503 last year.