EU student applications plunge ahead of tuition fee hike

Applications drop almost 50 per cent as EU students say no to international student fees

Applications to UK universities from students in the European Union have plummeted by 40 per cent ahead of a rise in tuition fees.

Data from the application service Ucas show that the number of EU students applying for undergraduate courses at UK universities fell from 43,030 to 26,010 in a single year. Applications for September represent the lowest number in nine years and are around 10,000 less than the number of applicants recorded in 2012, the first year in the dataset.