City university plans massive cut to undergraduate intake

THE University of Edinburgh is cutting its 2010 undergraduate intake by 1,300 – nearly a third of the total.

It is the biggest drop of any university in the UK.

The university says it wants to improve the experience of students by increasing the amount of money it spends per head.

A spokeswoman said: "We have experienced sustained growth in undergraduate applications over recent years.

"This, coupled with an unexpected increase in the uptake of offers, resulted in the 2009 intake exceeding targets.

"The university now seeks to address this and to bring the total student population back within its planned numbers."

The news comes as the total number of undergraduates who applied for full-time courses across the UK rose to 720,000 – some 12 per cent more than last year.

The university also said that it expected to admit more foreign students this year.

Overseas students are often a useful source of extra funding for universities as there is no cap on fees charged for students from outside the EU.