A RECORD number of 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have applied to the most selective universities and courses.
The number of disadvantaged students applying for a place on the most competitive higher education courses has increased by 8 per cent compared with last year, Ucas figures show.
The deadline for applications to study medicine, dentistry and veterinary science next autumn was on October 15.
This is also the deadline for students to apply for 2022 courses at Oxford and Cambridge.
It comes after the proportion of GCSE and A-level entries awarded the top grades surged to a record high this year after results were determined by teachers amid cancelled exams.
A record number of would-be doctors have also applied to study medicine in Britain and Northern Ireland.
In total, 29,710 people have applied to medicine courses for 2022, compared with 28,690 last year.
The figure has been boosted by a 28 per cent increase in the number of reapplicants applying for medicine courses - from 4,470 last year to 5,710 this year.
People are classified as a reapplier if they have applied to any course at any institution in the previous cycle.
It is not necessarily those who have reapplied for a medicine course or the same medicine course, Ucas has said.
