Computing has become the seventh most popular course to study at university after the number of applications from Year 13 graduates rises by 9.5 per cent, compared to 2022 figures. 

In 2023, there were 94,870 applications to computing from 18-year-olds in the UK, up from 86,630 last year and 71,150 in 2021, Ucas revealed.

The reason for the course's increase in popularity could be the effect of the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT, a large-language model chatbot which can answer questions in a seemingly natural way and is trained on a massive data set.

“We know that changes in the world around us translate into increased demand for certain courses, as we saw for economics post-2008, and for medicine and nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic," said Ucas chief executive Clare Marchant. “These new figures suggest students are becoming increasingly inspired to study computing thanks to the rise of digital and AI.”...