£36,000 degree has not deterred prospective students from applying to the University of Edinburgh.

University applications have decreased 8.7 per cent across the UK, figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) showed last week. Applications from English candidates have suffered most, with applications down by 9.9 per cent on 2010/11 numbers. Northern Irish and Welsh applications have had a less significant decrease, down 4.4 and 1.9 per cent respectively, while those in Scotland been the most consistent with previous years, with a 1.5 per cent fall in applications.

When overseas applicants are taken into account, the total decrease in applications to UK universities has fallen by 7.4 per cent.

Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell heralded the figures as a “vindication” of the Scottish education sector’s policy on tuition fees.

It has been widely anticipated that the introduction next September of fees capped at £9,000 would have an adverse effect on university applications. While the total applications from Scottish students are down by 1.5 per cent, the applications of these students to English universities have decreased even further by 16.4 per cent.

Scottish universities have largely performed well, with some institutions experiencing major increases in demand. Heriott-Watt University in Edinburgh has seen applications rise by 20.8 per cent, while the University of St Andrews has received its highest number of applications ever, up 17 per cent on the same time last year. The increase in applicants to the University of Edinburgh has been more modest, at 3.9 per cent, but the consensus on this issue seems to be that any positive increase is encouraging.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, has suggested that it is still too early to make a comprehensive judgement on the effects the rise in fees will have on applicants. The dip in numbers that last week’s figures revealed was not, Dandridge argues, as great as many feared and it is likely that numbers will see a recovery in subsequent years, as happened in 2006 when tuition fees were introduced. Confidence has also been expressed that this year will see greater numbers of students applying after the January deadline.

While there was concern that poorer students would be discouraged from applying, the figures show that among the groups UCAS classes as ‘disadvantaged’, the dip has been just 0.2 per cent. However, the number of applications from this latter group has always been lower than other, wealthier, groups.

Applications from mature students have declined dramatically, at around 11 per cent lower than at the same time last year. The National Union of Students’ (NUS) president Liam Burns attributed this to financial worries resulting from the fee reforms, telling the BBC that, “debt will be playing heavily in the minds of older students”.

A gender gap has also emerged, with male applicants down 8.5 per cent in comparison to a 6.7 per cent drop among females. The number of female university students is already higher than their male counterparts.