The number of UK 18-year-olds accepted into university has fallen for the first time in five years. While it would be quick to counter that acceptances fell because the government has said it plans to put a limit on the number of students being accepted onto ‘low value’ degrees at universities, starting in autumn 2024, the more worrying sign is the fact that university applications also fell this year.

The latest data from Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) shows 270,350 UK 18-year-olds were accepted on to a course this year, down from 275,390 in 2022, which is the first fall since 2018.

Population data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there are around 775,000 Britons aged 18 in 2023, up 25,000 on last year. This means that the percentage of UK 18-year-olds going to university this year is 34.9%, down from 36.7% in 2022.

According to StuRents, there was also a decline in UK 18-year-old applicants, from 326,190 in 2022 to 319,570 in 2023, so the percentage applying fell from 43.5% to 41.2%. In short, there are more 18-year-olds in the UK this year but less of them are applying to go to university, and less are getting accepted at a university, which is obviously a concern for student landlords.

There are a number of factors at play in the student accommodation sector and in this article we will try and highlight the most important ones.

Demographics – in one hand and out the other
In the past few years, much of the positivity around the student accommodation sector in the UK has focused on the fact that the number of 18-year-olds here, which fell during the 2010s, has now begun to rise sharply. The UK had 715,000 of them in 2020 and expects to have 893,000 in 2030 - a 25% increase.