The number of students from Bangladesh applying to UK universities for higher education has registered an upward trend after a dip in previous years, according to official statistics released in London.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the UK’s centralised university application system, has revealed that 310 students from Bangladesh had applied to take up courses at British universities by this year’s deadline of June 30.
This marks a 14 percent hike over the previous year of 2018, when 270 applications were recorded. The 2019 figures mark a return to a movement upwards in the student flow from Bangladesh once again after a period of drop in numbers. There were significant dips in the number of Bangladeshi students applying to study in the UK since 2016, when just 250 applications were recorded, which marked a drop from a high of 340 applications of the previous year 2015 and 320 in 2014.
The overall figures also reflect a significant rise in the number of young people applying to universities, with China way ahead in terms of international student numbers at 19,760, up 30 percent from the previous year’s number of 15,240 applications
“The global appeal of UK higher education has never been clearer, with record, demographic beating application rates in England and Wales, and the steep rise in international applications, especially from China,” said Clare Marchant, UCAS' Chief Executive.
“The analysis shows how attractive undergraduate study continues to be for young people, although university isn’t the only route on offer. Our survey insight shows that around a quarter of students are interested in apprenticeships as an alternative option,” she said.
In 2019, there is a record number of applicants from outside the EU (81,340) who have applied to study in the UK, an increase of 8 percent.
"Our universities have a well-deserved global reputation for high-quality teaching, learning and research, delivered by talented staff, while students report rising levels of satisfaction with their courses," said Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of representative body Universities UK.
Overall, 638,030 people have applied in the current application cycle – a rise of over 1,000 on 2018. The latest statistics show that the number of young people from the UK applying has increased by 1 percent, despite a 1.9 percent fall in the overall 18-year-old population of the UK.
And, in a sign that Brexit-related uncertainties had not yet dampened the interest among European Union (EU) students, the volume of EU applicants to UK universities rose 1 percent, to 50,650.