Record numbers of students took up places on undergraduate courses in the UK last year, according to final figures released today by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS).

In 2008, the number of fulltime students accepted on to courses rose by 10.4% – 43,197 more than the previous year – to a total of 456,627. This included 14,184 nursing and midwifery applicants who applied through UCAS for the first time. Excluding these students, the number of acceptances rose by 7%.

The figures show a rise in overseas students taking degrees in British universities – up 5.6% overall, with Romania (140.5%), Bulgaria (109.4%), Singapore (32.2%) and China (21%) seeing the biggest increases in student numbers.

Male undergraduates rose 7.9% in 2008 to 204,695, while the number of female students increased by 12.6% on last year to 251,932.

The Royal Society of Chemistry said it was pleased to see the number of chemistry undergraduates rise above 4,000 for the first time in over a decade to 4,009 in 2008.

The higher education minister, David Lammy, said: "We are committed to raising interest in – and take-up of – science among our young people, so it is very encouraging to see that we are making some headway, with the number of students studying maths and engineering showing an above-average increase in acceptance, and subjects such as chemistry, physics and biology showing welcome signs of growth."

Source: Guardian (UK)