The latest available information is given in the table. Due to a change in the methodology for recording subject in 2002/03, comparisons between figures for 2001/02 and earlier, and those for 2002/03 onwards cannot be made; Comparable figures for the 2007/08 academic year will be available in January 2009.
Latest figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that applicants who were accepted to full-time first degree courses in physics in 2007/08 increased by 10 per cent. compared to the previous year.
Academic year Physics students 1994/95 7,730 1998/994 8,035 2003/04 7,795 2006/07 7,835 1 Includes both full-time and part-time undergraduates from the UK and overseas. 2 Figures from the Open University have been excluded from the analysis. 3 Figures for first degree physics students are not available for 1993/94 academic year, only for physical sciences as a whole. Therefore, comparable figures for the 1994/96 academic year have been provided as an alternative. 4 In 2002/03 the methodology for recording subject of study was changed on the student record. Aside from the introduction of a new coding frame, JACS (previously a system called HESACODE was used), students were apportioned between their subjects of study rather than being assigned on a headcount basis to their major subject. As such, comparisons between figures for 2001/02 and earlier, and those for 2002/03 onwards cannot be made. Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December excluding those writing up, on sabbatical or dormant and are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)