A record 15,604 people applied to Cambridge this academic year, resulting in more competition for places than ever before.

The figure represents a more than 6.5 per cent increase on the previous year. This means that applicants faced an even tougher challenge for places, with more than four people vying for each offer. As mature applications are still waiting to close in March, the number is yet likely to increase.

“We won’t have a final picture on the number of applications received until the later deadline for mature students is passed,” Dr Geoff Parks, Director of Admissions for the Cambridge Colleges, told Varsity. However, he added, “it’s fair to say that as things stand our applications are slightly up on last year’s.”

The news is something of a triumph for the University. It comes despite recent controversy over the recent decision to adopt the new A* grade at A-level as part of the standard conditional offer, predicted by many to result in a decline in applications, and a favouring of independent schools.

The government, which has in the past put pressure on universities to take more students from socially-disadvantaged backgrounds, had worried that the introduction of the A* grade would “disproportionately” affect state-school applicants, leaving universities such as Cambridge open only to Britain’s elite, private schools.

This has not been the case. “Though a detailed breakdown isn’t available yet,” Dr Parks said, “at this stage it seems that the ratio of state:independent applications is exactly the same as last year’s, with the average quality of our applicants being a little higher. We believe that our use of the A* in our offers may have deterred some less strong applications in equal proportions from both state and independent sectors.”

The newly-released application figures indicate that Cambridge has managed to attract a greater number of higher quality candidates from all backgrounds. While Oxford has seen its application figures increase by 12% this year, including an extra 1,110 candidates from state schools, Cambridge maintains that it is not at a disadvantage.

“Making our standard offer A*AA merely clarifies to students the grades that are generally necessary to be offered a place,” according to Dr Parks.

Despite this fresh challenge, sixth-formers have been greeting the news of their offers with excitement. One student described herself as “over the moon”, while another was “completely and utterly elated”. Nonetheless, they deemed the offer requirements “terrifying”.

The now unprecedented demand for university places has worried some, including the government, who fear that up to 200,000 students - around a third of all candidates - will miss out on a place in the coming year. Of the 14,498 people who applied for 2009 entry at the University of Cambridge, for example, offers were made to only 3,531. Despite this, more than 1.14 million students started undergraduate or postgraduate courses in 2008/9, an increase of 7% over the previous year.

The boom in the number of students now taking up places at university has caused trouble for ministers, who fear that the government will not be able to provide student loans and grants to all those eligible for them. They have allowed this year for an extra 10,000 students, after which numbers are capped. Universities will be fined if they go above this level.

The possibility of a further crisis of loans comes following troubles earlier in the year, which saw large numbers of students left without finances. Almost three months since the start of the university year, thousands of students are still waiting for money from the Student Loans Company.