Undergraduate applications to Sussex are holding up well against a significant national decline.

Applications from UK students to universities around the country are down by 15.1%, according to official figures at the end of November from the university admissions service, UCAS. Applications from other EU students are down 13.1%.

In comparison, the 8,000 applications to Sussex for 2012-13 entry are down by only 10% relative to the 8,700 received by the same point in the 2011-12 cycle.

And looking at previous years, applications to Sussex by the end of November 2011 represent significant increases year on year of:

• 19% up compared to the end of November 2009 (when there had been 6,600 applications for 2010-11);

• and 60% up compared to the end of November 2008 (when Sussex had 4,900 applications for 2009-10).

The chief executive of UCAS, Mary Curnock Cook, said: "Recent changes in high education funding mean that application patterns this year may be different to previous years.” Autumn 2012 is when fees at Sussex and many other universities will rise to £9,000 a year.

Professor Clare Mackie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), said: “Although the application figures are lower than at the same point last year, the applications for 2012 entry are much higher than the figures for 2010 entry.

She pointed out that it is too early at the moment to make predictions about total demand for entry next year: “These early data do change, and by 7 December the decline at Sussex was only 3%, rather than 10%.”

The next snapshot that allows comparison with national data will be the UCAS statistics on 28 December; prospective students have until 15 January to apply for degrees beginning in autumn 2012.

The first data on postgraduate applications to Sussex are expected in February.