Mary Curnock Cook, chief executive of Ucas, said the statistics were ¡°encouraging¡± because there had been no double-dip for applications.

¡°The 2 per cent rise in the number of 18 year old applicants and the 10.5 per cent increase in 19 year olds is against a headwind of demographic change that has left the 18 year old group some 60,000 smaller than in 2009,¡± she said.

¡°The significant increase in 19-year-olds applying may be indicating that some young people delayed their decisions about higher education after leaving school last year,¡± she added.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, also welcomed the increase in applications from younger students.

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For [18-year-olds], application rates are at near record levels,¡± she said.

¡°It is also good to see that the rate of application for 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged areas have increased and the new tuition fees system does not appear to have put them off applying.

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¡°For this group in England, the rate has risen by around 1 percentage point compared to 2012.¡±

Alex Bols, executive director of the 1994 Group, which represents small research-intensive universities, was also heartened by the news.

¡°It shows that the message that university is still affordable with the new loans system is beginning to be understood,¡± he said.

However, Pam Tatlow, chief Executive of million+, which represents post-1992 universities, insisted more work was needed to encourage applications from potential mature students.

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¡°This modest improvement in applications is welcome but no-one should be under any illusions ¨C this is not a bounce-back,¡± she said.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, added: ¡°Today¡¯s figures are a real body blow for anyone who does not think higher fees are turning some people away from university.

¡°Historical data suggests there should have been a considerable increase in the number of applications this year, but that simply is not the case.¡±

Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, also warned that demand were only just recovering after a ¡°huge dip¡± last year.

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¡°There must be no complacency about the impact of the coalition¡¯s decision to shift the balance of higher education funding onto students.¡±

There was also concern that demand for language courses fell for the second year in a row ¨C down by 6.1 per cent for European languages and 6.7 per cent for non-European languages.

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¡°The drop in number of applications in students studying languages ¨C on top of recent year-on-year decreases ¨C is becoming ever more alarming,¡± said Paul Webley, director of SOAS, University of London.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com