By Mat Johnstone, News Editor

 

The gender gap at British universities has almost doubled in the last decade according to figures from UCAS.

Women are 35% more likely to go to university than men in the UK, and outnumber men in almost three quarters of degree subjects.

The figures come from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service’s end of application cycle report, published this week.

Women from working class areas are also 50% more likely to progress to higher education than men from the same area.

Eight years ago, more women attended university than men, but the gap was 34,035 students in 2007 compared to the difference of 66,840 students this year.

Speaking to the Guardian, UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook said there had been “deafening policy silence” on the issue.

The subject with the largest gender gap in nursing, but women are also ahead in history, English and law.

Curnock Cook said: “Has the women’s movement now become so normalised that we cannot conceive of needing to take positive action to secure equal education outcomes for boys?”

Men are over-represented in subjects like computer science and mechanical engineering. UCAS included that because there are more men than women in the general population, there should be 5% more male students per subject for ‘equality’.