More than 100,000 women applied to UK universities compared to men this year – UCAS

The gender gap amongst university students in the UK continues, widening to 103,910 more female applicants compared to men this year, UCAS has revealed

The gap has been growing steadily larger over the years – in 2012, there were 79,000 more women applying than men, The Telegraph reports.

According to 2016 figures, a total of 674,890 prospective students had applied to study full-time at UK tertiary institutions by the June 30 deadline.

Of that total, the gender breakdown was 389,400 women to 285,490 men.

The trend persisted even when broken down into age groups, with women surpassing men in each category, most noticeably among mature students, such as those aged 30 and above, with a gap of nearly 20,000.

From the UK, 553,750 people applied, a slight increase from last year’s 553,590, while the number of EU applicants rose by 6 percent to 51,850, and the number of applicants from outside the EU decreased by 2 percent to 69,300.

Currently, four-fifths of the UK’s higher education institutions have more female than male students.

The only institutions which buck the trend are those such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, which traditionally tend to have a higher ratio of male students.

Featured image via Flickr.

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