Furious competition for students means universities and colleges are cautious about assessing enrolment success this year until the new term begins, writes Harriet Swain.

Many will be working right up until the last minute to meet their target numbers.

Engineering and sciences are still proving a problem for university admissions tutors while some colleges have experienced a surprise decline in the number applying for business-related courses.

A spokesman for Bradford University, traditionally strong in engineering, said it was unlikely to meet its targets in that area, although students applying for natural sciences and health studies were being turned away.

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Wolverhampton said it had experienced a nervous start but was now confident about reaching the same numbers as last year.

Dick Evans, principal of Stockport College of Further and ÖйúAƬ, said he had been pleasantly surprised by the buoyant state of enrolments, particularly in craft and construction.

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But poaching by ÖйúAƬ institutions remained a problem. Six students on Stockport's learning difficulties degree course, one of just two such courses in the country, have been snapped up by other institutions. He was also surprised by the difficulty in recruiting business studies students. "The regional FEFC committee has contacted us about this in the light of other colleges' difficulties. Whether there is another kind of poaching going on or whether the business studies bubble has now burst we don't yet know."

Ruth Silver, principal of Lewisham College, south London, said management studies at the college had suffered in a similar way. "The universities are nicking our clients. The people we used to attract for management are going elsewhere."

Otherwise, enrolments were up on last year, in spite of a disruptive move into a new campus.

In other colleges, financial problems had proved a handicap. Chris Pratt, chief executive of Airedale and Wharfdale College, Leeds said they had been forced to take a tougher line than ever before on class sizes, closing courses which failed to reach double figures.

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More than 500 students had been given refunds by the beginning of this week because of courses closing.