Applications to both Cambridge and Oxford have increased from last year, with the latter facing record competition for places, according to spokespeople at the respective universities.

While Cambridge reported an increase of 1.5 per cent, taking the total number of applicants to around 16,400 potential students, Oxford reported that applications had soared.

By the UCAS deadline of 15th October, Oxford had received 19,500 applications, representing an increase of around 6.6 per cent.

The increase means that the number of students vying for places at Oxford has reached record levels for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile, despite the total number of applicants falling last year following the introduction of more stringent entry requirements, Cambridge is seeing demand creep back up in the current application cycle.

The rise in Oxbridge applications comes as data released by UCAS reveals significant changes in where applications for early deadline courses are coming from.

The data encompass many medical, veterinary and dentistry courses as well as all Oxbridge undergraduate courses, which have earlier deadlines in the UCAS application system than courses at other higher education institutions.

According to UCAS, the number of UK-domiciled students applying for early deadline courses before 15th October has dropped by 1 per cent to 38,330, meaning the rate at which applications from within the UK is decreasing has slowed after it dropped by nearly 5 per cent last year.

However, this fall in the number of UK-based applicants has been fuelled significantly by a drastic fall in the number of UK-domiciled students reapplying for early deadline and Oxbridge courses.

Though the majority of those reapplying are doing so for medicine courses, 620 fewer students had reapplied by the deadline compared to last year – a decrease of about 11.8 per cent and a far steeper decline than among international students.

In fact, the number of EU-based students who are reapplying actually increased, with a surge in applications from European Union countries lying behind the modest increase in the overall number of applications to Oxbridge and other courses which have early deadlines.

Of the total 56,630 applications received, 6,860 were applications from the EU – an increase of around 8.2 per cent on last year as the trend of evermore applications from EU countries continues.

Since 2012, the number of applications from the EU for courses with a 15th October deadline has risen year on year, though never by as much as in the current cycle, which far outstrips the 4.4 per cent rise in EU-applicants seen two years ago.