More British Asians seek university education, white Britons less inclined

THE proportion of British Asian and other ethnic minority candidates applying for UK universities has increased this year while interest from white Britons has declined.

There were 52,460 applicants of British Asian background, up four per cent over the previous year and the number of white Britons applying for degree courses dropped five per cent year-on-year to 213,220.

Despite the fall, white Britons remained the largest group seeking university education in the UK, The Times reported, citing Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) data.

Overall, the number of 18-year-olds in the UK applying for various courses declined from the record 326,190 last year to the current 319,570.

Interest from India and the Middle East saw the number of international applicants rise by 2.4 per cent over the last year.

However, the number of British applicants seeking computer courses rose nine per cent to 94,870 from 86,630 a year ago.

There was also an uptick in the demand from foreigners with a 2.4 per cent jump in the proportion of international applicants.

This was driven mainly by a 20.8 per cent increase coming from the Middle East and an 8.7 per cent rise from India.

In contrast, the number of applicants from China dipped by 2.2 and the UCAS said it was “most likely” caused by pandemic-induced restrictions and disruption to learning.

June 30 was the deadline to apply for the courses and computing has emerged as the seventh most popular area of learning.

Overall, the computing courses saw 195,690 applications, including all ages and domiciles, with a nine per cent jump over the previous year. The trend suggests artificial intelligence is finding increasing traction.

Rashik Parmar, the chief executive of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, said ethics and diversity were vital in AI and “we want people from every background to know that the tech profession needs them.”