According to admissions body Ucas, the number of applicants over 20 taking up degree courses one week after A-level results were published was 100,700, 6 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

Acceptances from those aged 25 or over are even higher, up by 7 per cent on 2013, which means 37,300 now have a place in higher education, said Ucas in its analysis of admissions activity published on 21 August.

The increase follows a slump in degree take-up by older students in 2012 when tuition fees almost trebled to up to ?9,000 a year.

Mary Curnock Cook, chief executive of Ucas, said the figures were ¡°a welcome reminder that higher education is not just for 18-year-olds after leaving school¡±.

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¡°For many, the right time to get the most out of going to university is later in life,¡± said Ms Curnock Cook, who herself did not go to university until her forties.

Les Ebdon, director of fair access to higher education, also welcomed the news, calling it ¡°encouraging¡± and ¡°good news for social mobility¡±.

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¡°For many people who did not go to university straight from sixth-form or college, mature study offers a valuable second chance to gain the qualifications they need to succeed in the workplace,¡± said Professor Ebdon.

Overall, Ucas had placed 459,550 people of all ages in higher education by 21 August, roughly 16,000 more than at the same time last year, which represents a 4 per cent increase.

The government has made 30,000 extra places available this year, with institutions able to recruit 6 per cent beyond their annual student quota before they are fined for over-recruitment.

Some 33,970 people had been placed through clearing by 21 August, 14 per cent more than last year.

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jack.grove@tesglobal.com