MORE students than ever want to study in Huddersfield.

But many may be disappointed as universities face a Government cap on the number of places available for UK and EU full time undergraduate students.

Applications to Huddersfield are almost a quarter up on last year with almost 20,000 (19,856) forms being received.

Last year 16,157 applications were made to Huddersfield. Out of those, 5,104 full-time undergraduates managed to get places last autumn along with 758 full-time post graduates – a total of 5,862.

And this year the university has also seen a massive increase (47%) in applications made from international students at both undergraduate, postgraduate and research level.

The figures in Huddersfield mirror the national figures. Applications to UK universities have risen by more than a fifth (22.9%) on this time last year, according to figures published by admissions service Ucas.

Prof Peter Slee, deputy vice chancellor at Huddersfield University said: “The good thing is that Huddersfield is appealing to more students every year and that means they are spending money in the town.

“The nature of the education we provide fits with our motto of ‘Inspiring Tomorrow’s Professionals’ and students know our courses are very good for their future careers in a difficult environment.”

Prof Slee said there would be more competition for places compared with last year, but he said the university published its grades for courses well in advance and adhered to these during the selection process.

He said to be accepted at Huddersfield students needed to prove they were high performing people.

Funding chiefs announced last week there will be 6,000 fewer places available for the upcoming year than last year. Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook said this year would be “very challenging and competitive” for students and universities.

It comes just a week after universities learned their budgets were to be slashed by £449m for 2010/11, including a 1.6% reduction (£215m) in teaching funding.

Prof Steve Smith, president of vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, said the rise in applicants was good news.

He added: “Given the increasing demand for a limited number of places, we expect another challenging admissions period this summer for both applicants and institutions.

“With this further jump in demand and the continued cap on student numbers in England, it’s inevitable that we are going to see even more pressure on places this year and the strong possibility of many well-qualified students missing out.”