The latest available published figures from UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) are shown in the table. The figures relate to numbers of applications rather than applicants and numbers of accepted applicants to full-time foundation degree courses and exclude applications to part-time courses and direct to institutions. Each applicant can apply to up to six courses.
Year of entry Applications1 Accepted applicants 20022 n/a 2,699 2003 12,391 5,596 2004 17,246 8,853 2005 30,812 12,511 2006 40,818 14,673 2007 48,366 18,194 n/a = Not available 1 As each applicant may apply to up to six different courses/institutions, these applications figures will be larger than those for applicants. 2 Figures for the number of applications to foundation degree courses in the 2002 year of entry have not been published by UCAS. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
Currently, there are almost 71,000 people studying foundation degrees. We are therefore making good progress towards achieving our target participation rate of 100,000 by 2010. We are committed to foundation degrees as a key vehicle for HE expansion as they are precisely the type of business-facing, demand-led provision which is helping employers to address higher level skill needs.