The clearing service said a total of 618,116 young men and women from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and other countries applied for courses, of whom 532,056 are domiciled here.
The figures were published as Labour leader Ed Miliband clashed with Prime Minister David Cameron in the House of Commons over the number of universities imposing the highest level of tuition fees, £9,000.
Mr. Miliband said 18 out of 23 universities were charging the maximum amount which would now become “the rule, not the exception”. He also predicted that the Government had got the amount wrong and would have to come back seeking even higher fees.
Meanwhile, students on free school meals will get an average of £370 a year less to stay on at school under Government plans to replace the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in England, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Education Secretary Michael Gove, who said he scrapped the old £560 million EMA scheme because it was “wasteful” and “poorly targeted”, added that he was instead providing £180 million bursary fund for 16 to 19-year-olds from low-income households.
But the Institute for Fiscal Studies said uncertainty over bursaries might deter students from staying in education.
Under the EMA scheme, 650,000 16 to 19-year-olds from low-income families received direct payments of between £10 and £30 a week. But the new measures instead allocate £1,200 per year for 12,000 teenagers with the greatest need.
There will be £165 million for colleges and schools to make discretionary payments to help low-income students with transport, food and books.
The IFS said it was “clear that many existing EMA recipients will get less money than at the moment”.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said his bursaries fund was enough to allow £800 a year for every child eligible for free school meals who chose to stay on at school.
The IFS pointed out that eligible students received £30 a week under EMA or £1,170 a year, so would be at least £370 worse off under Mr Gove’s scheme.
