THE number of UK students applying to start university this autumn has slumped by 8.9%, but the fall in Scotland is the lowest of any part of the country.

More than 50,000 fewer students have applied to start degree courses from September across the UK, compared to last year, latest statistics from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) reveal.

Tuition fees for English universities are due to triple to a maximum of £9000 a year from this September. Students from Scotland studying in Scotland do not pay fees, and neither do those from the rest of the EU. But students coming to Scotland from the rest of the UK face charges of up to £9000 a year.

In England alone, the number of students applying to university slumped by 10%, a much bigger fall than in Wales (down 2.9%), Scotland (down 2.1%) and Northern Ireland (down 4.5%).

The Scottish Government said the figures vindicate its funding approach.

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: "Today's figures offer much reassurance that Scotland's universities continue to be highly sought-after from students at home and abroad."

Graeme Kirkpatrick, vice-president (education) of the National Union of Students, said: "What today's statistics clearly show is that where fees go up, whether for students studying down south or students from the rest of the UK attending universities in Scotland, applications have suffered."