Education specialists Ambitious Minds found 12 of the 20 best-performing constituencies were in Scotland, as applications stayed stable at 171,000 overall.

Glasgow East, with a rise of 11.2%, and Aberdeen North, up 11.1%, showed the largest increases. Only two of Scotland's 59 constituencies – Central Ayrshire, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine – saw falls more than the UK average.

Sean McGuire, chief executive of Ambitious Minds, said: "Going to uni-versity is no longer an automatic choice for a teenager with good A-levels. It has become an investment decision that usually must be made by the family as an economic unit, and it is a decision that has significant risk.

"Young people who choose to go to university are burdening themselves with debts of more than £30,000 that will remain with them for decades if they aren't paid off. Trebling the cap on fees has had a significant effect on capping the aspirations of young people."

The data, collated by the University and Colleges Admissions Service, shows England was badly affected with university applications down by 9.9%. Applications from Northern Ireland fell 5.3% and were down 1.3% in Wales, while applications from Scottish students showed a miniscule rise of 0.05%.