Simon Hughes: Young people have not been put off university

Commenting on the UCAS applications figures, which show the proportion of English school leavers applying to university this year is greater than ever before, barring last year, and that applications from people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds remain strong, Advocate for Access to Education and Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Simon Hughes said:

"These figures show that on the whole young people have not been put off by the changes in the student finance system.

"This is due in no small part to the serious effort put in by the Coalition Government and many others in making sure that each young person and their parents knew all the facts about funding higher education.

"In particular, many families clearly now understand that all graduates will pay less each month towards the cost of their university education than they did before.

"There has been a larger drop in the number of older students applying to university. The Government will have to take a serious look at why this has happened, particularly as part-time students for the first time also do not have to pay for their university education in advance.

"However, because mature students have more flexibility in when they apply, there are still good opportunities for people looking to start university this year to put in an application."