Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many international students applied to study in UK universities in each of the last five years.

Final figures for the years up to 2014 are shown in the table.

The latest information for the 2015 application cycle shows that, as at January 15^th, applicants via UCAS from EU and non-EU countries were up by 7% and 3% respectively, compared to the same point last year. The UCAS deadline for the receipt of applications from non-EU applicants is the end of June; normally, only around two thirds of non-EU applicants apply by mid-January.

These figures only cover applicants to full-time undergraduate courses. Information on applicants to part-time undergraduate courses, and all postgraduate courses, is not held centrally. Only just over half of all non-EU overseas entrants to full-time courses apply via UCAS, the rest apply directly to institutions.

Applicants via UCAS from EU and non-EU countries to full-time undergraduate courses at UK institutions

Final end of cycle figures