York St John bucks the national trend with 11% application rise

York St John University has experienced an 11% increase in applications for its courses starting this autumn, according to official statistics published by UCAS on 30 January.

UCAS, the main application clearing house for undergraduate courses, released statistics for the first main deadline for applicants in mid-January. Despite these statistics showing that nationally applications have dropped by an average of 7.4%, York St John University has witnessed an increase in applications of 11.2% compared to this time last year.

The rising popularity for the University’s courses is part of a longer term trajectory of growth in demand. Since 2008 York St John University undergraduate applications have risen by almost 60% and for 2012 entry it received 9,068 applications by 15 January. International applications are up by over 25% this year, those from the UK are up by almost 11% and there has been growth in the arts, business, theology, education, health and life sciences.

Commenting on the increase in applications, Professor David Fleming Vice Chancellor of York St John University said:

“The community on campus and in the city makes this a great place to come and study. We’ve invested in the quality of our teaching, the campus environment and opportunities for students to get fully involved in student life. Potential students and their families are recognising how much we are able to offer and this has had a real impact on our applications.

“We’ve also put together a strong package of fee waivers and support and coupled this with increased work with schools and colleges and the provision of more information, advice and guidance. We want to get the message across that a University education remains an excellent choice.”

The University has a strong track record of post study success with 90% of York St John graduates in employment and further training within six months of graduation. The University was also placed in the top 20 of UK institutions for student assessment of quality of teaching in the most recent National Student Survey and has a well-developed strategy for student number growth.