Elite UK universities hoovered up a significant share of undergraduate students – including a record proportion from overseas – for the current academic year, according to new figures, but not all of them were so successful.
Data from admissions service Ucas shows that 564,940 applicants accepted places on UK courses in 2024 – 27 per cent of which went to Russell Group universities.
This was up from 26 per cent in 2023 and the second highest proportion since comparable records began in 2006. The total number of undergraduate students taking up places at the prestigious mission group rose by 8 per cent – which was one of the largest increases in the time series.
In contrast, 47 per cent of students went to institutions granted university status after 1992 – their second lowest share since 2007.
This comes on the back of last year’s recruitment round, which saw the largest fall in more than a decade in student numbers among post-92s.
Almost all members of the Russell Group grew their undergraduate recruitment this cycle, with the largest increases at the University of Birmingham (up 22 per cent), UCL (20 per cent) and Durham University (20 per cent).
But three accepted fewer students than in 2023. These were the University of Sheffield (down 4 per cent), the University of Exeter (2 per cent) and Queen Mary University of London (0.4 per cent).
Birmingham, UCL and Durham saw among the biggest increases for all large institutions across the whole sector but were beaten by Wrexham University (up 27 per cent) and the University of Portsmouth (23 per cent).
Some institutions saw worrying declines, however. The number of undergraduate students at the University of Suffolk fell from 2,045 to 1,420, and from 440 to 305 at the University of Buckingham. A fall of 31 per cent at both institutions was among the largest within higher education.
They were closely followed by the University of Staffordshire (down 30 per cent), the University of Hull (25 per cent) and the University of Wolverhampton (24 per cent).
Though they make up just a small proportion of the total overseas market, the Ucas figures also show some concerning signs for international recruitment.
At 69,905, the total number of international undergraduate students fell to its lowest level since 2016, with a 3 per cent drop among post-92 institutions.
A dozen of these universities, including Oxford Brookes University, the University of Bradford and the University of Aberdeen, accepted their lowest number of international students at this level since at least 2006.
A record 51 per cent of international students went to the Russell Group – up from 41 per cent in 2015 and 32 per cent in 2006. Some members, including Birmingham, cash-strapped Cardiff University and Queen’s University Belfast, took in record numbers in 2024.
But 11 saw falls, including Queen Mary, King’s College London, and the universities of Bristol, Exeter, Leeds, Oxford, Southampton and York.
The most significant fall in international recruitment came at under-pressure Newcastle University (down 26 per cent) Sheffield (23 per cent) and the University of Liverpool (15 per cent). Sheffield accepted its smallest cohort of international undergraduate students (865) through Ucas since 2010 and Newcastle its fewest (625) since 2008.
