28 February 2003
Students faced with the prospect of student debt are heading for northern universities at the expense of London, according to figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
Manchester University has recorded a 22% increase in applications since last year – more than 45,000 people applied last year – while the London School of Economics, University College London, Imperial College, Goldsmiths College and Westminster University have all seen a fall in applications.
Leeds and Nottingham remain the most popular universities in terms of the numbers of students seeking places, while there was also increases in applications at Newcastle and York.
However, applications decreased by 15% at University of North London, 14% at the South Bank and 13% at Greenwich university.
Queen Mary, University of London, bucked the trend to record a 17% increase while King's College applications increased by 5%. A spokeswoman for QMW said that the increase followed outreach work with schools and an increasing trend for young people to stay in their family home when studying at university.
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