Record numbers of students from China and Hong Kong are applying for places at British universities, overtaking the number of applicants from Wales, according to official figures.

Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) shows a spike in demand for undergraduate places from mainland China and a small rise in applications from the EU, despite fears over Brexit.

The figures taken from Ucas’s January deadline, when the bulk of undergraduate applications are made, show a 1% decline in UK applicants, but a 9% surge from international candidates meant the total number of applications went up for the first time in three years.

The number of applications from China and Hong Kong rose from more than 17,000 last year to 21,000 this year. In contrast, only 18,850 applications came from Wales, meaning that if those trends are sustained there will soon be more undergraduates from China studying at British universities than from Wales.

Last year there were also more than 100,000 postgraduate students from China and Hong Kong at British universities, out of nearly 350,000 full-time postgraduates.

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/feb/07/record-numbers-china-hong-kong-applying-study-uk-universities