THE gulf in the numbers of men and women applying to university has widened, official figures show.
New Ucas statistics reveal almost 98,000 more women than men had applied by the end of last month to start degree courses this autumn.
The figures are likely to spark fresh debate about why there is a gender divide.
The latest Ucas data also shows that the overall number of people applying to university has dropped, but that there has been an increase in EU applicants.
Overall, 367,300 women, of all ages, had applied to university by June 30 - the last deadline for applications.
In comparison, there were 269,660 male applicants - a gap of 97,640 students.
Last year, 96,300 more women had applied by this point.
The gap has closed slightly since 2016, when there was a gulf of 103,910.
But it has widened compared to five years ago (2013), when there were 86,630 more female applicants than male.
There were 511,460 UK applicants, down per cent on last year, with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all seeing falls.
