A record number of Chinese undergraduates have applied to take up places at UK universities this year — displacing the Northern Irish for the first time to become the fourth largest group of applicants after those from England, Scotland and Wales.

UCAS, the university and colleges admissions service, said applications from China for 2019 soared 30 per cent to 19,760 — accounting for about 3 per cent of the total. The number of Northern Irish applicants fell slightly to 18,520.

While the number of UK applicants fell from 511,460 in 2018 to 506,040 this year, overall applications rose from 636,960 to 638,030. Total non-EU applications rose to nearly 13 per cent of the total — an 8 per cent rise compared with last year — led by China, India and Hong Kong.