Tens of thousands of people will be prevented from attending university this September as a result of cuts to higher education funding and a big surge in applicants, figures show.

Ucas, the admissions service, said that there had been a record number of applications this year. The biggest increase was among over-25s who were hoping to ride out the recession by getting a degree rather than being unemployed.

This month The Times revealed that up to 50,000 more prospective students would be left without places compared with previous years. Some institutions have had a 34 per cent rise in the number of applicants — far more than they can provide for. Ucas said yesterday that it had received 524,151 applications, compared with 481,784 at the same point last year.

The Government’s attempt to get more people into university was undermined by a £200 million shortfall in the budget of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, which led to a reduction in the number of extra places on offer this year. The situation means that places in clearing — which gives students who fail to achieve their expected A-level grades a second chance to apply — will be at a premium.

This year’s final figures are expected to outstrip by far the 588,689 total applications for courses last year, and university leaders are calling on the Government to lift its cap on places.

Pam Tatlow, chief executive of Million+, which represents new universities, said: “These figures are the tip of the iceberg and there will be more applications to come. The Government will have to fund more places unless it wants to add to the unemployment queue.”

The Government has allocated 10,000 extra places this year — a reduction from the promised 15,000 — and these can include postgraduate and part-time places.

John Denham, the Universities Secretary, has written to vice-chancellors ordering them not to exceed their student numbers. If they go above their quota they face fines of up to £10,000 for every extra student.

David Willetts, the Shadow Universities Secretary, said: “Ministers are paving the way for thousands of young people to be disappointed this summer, forcing them on to an appalling job market.”

This week’s Budget failed to offer universities any extra funding to plug the gap and allow more students to attend. David Lammy, the Higher Education Minister, said: “Far from freezing or capping student numbers, this Government has presided over a huge increase in people going to university with an extra 300,000 in the system since 1997.

“It is right that as the nation tightens its belt in the face of real pressures on public spending, the higher education sector plays its part in ensuring value for money for taxpayers by finding efficiency savings.”

Wes Streeting, the president of the National Union of Students, said:

“Unless there is an urgent expansion of places, universities will be unable to meet this demand. We are therefore calling on the Government to launch an immediate review of student numbers for the coming year.”

— University lecturers are threatening to take industrial action over job cuts across the higher education sector. The University and College Union will ballot its members next month on the proposed action, which follows a stall in talks with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.

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