University sees 5% rise in applications

The University of Reading has seen a 5% rise in applications of students wishing to study at Reading this year.

The University had 19,599 applications (up  1,010 on last year) for full-time undergraduate courses at the UCAS ‘on time’ deadline of 29^th January, slightly later than usual due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For 2021 entry, this represents around 5 applications per place across the 250 available courses.

Applications from both UK and overseas (non-EU) students were up 10% on last year (1,502 and 209 respectively), demonstrating Reading’s strong reputation at home and abroad.

In line with the national 40% decrease in applications from EU students, Reading has seen a 47% decrease (701) in EU applications. The drop in applications is largely due to Brexit and changes to EU student support arrangements.

Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Reading, said: “At a time when there is still so much uncertainty around, it is fantastic to see that young people are still planning for their futures by applying to university.

“I am very proud to say that the University of Reading has seen an overall increase of applications, despite such a drop in applications from EU students since the UK’s departure from the EU – which was expected.

“We have been unable to welcome visitors to our campus for our traditional Open Days but thanks to the hard work of my colleagues we have offered prospective students the opportunity to see what life at Reading would be like through a series of virtual events.

“We have seen strong increases from both UK and international students and given the events of the last year this is hugely positive for us. There is still some uncertainty around what the rest of this year will bring in terms of the pandemic, but I am confident that as a university we will adapt accordingly and continue to offer our students a world-class education and experience.”

Postgraduate Taught applications

This year, Reading has also seen a large increase in applications for postgraduate taught programmes from UK and EU students, up 27% on last year.

Healthcare and education related courses have done particularly well:

• The MPAS Physician Associate course has seen a 161% increase in UK/EU applicants, and a 150% increase in overseas applicants, up 163% overall.
• Postgraduate teacher training courses are up 26% for UK/EU students, and 96% for overseas students, 32% overall.

Professor Van de Noort said: “Postgraduate taught programmes are a great way for people to retrain or upskill themselves, especially at a time such as now when national skills needs are changing. Across the country, there has been a huge increase in the number of applications for medicine, nursing and allied health professional courses and at Reading we have seen a 163% increase in applications for our physician associate programme, which helps train people to work alongside doctors and nurses.

“The pandemic has seen people re-evaluate what kind of careers they want, and this is reflected in our course applications where we have seen rises across the board for teaching, education and healthcare related courses.”