SPIRALLING applications for places at the University of York are creating a "tremendous pressure" for further expansion of the flourishing institution.

University bosses have revealed that overall applications at the university are up by 16 per cent this year, despite a background of national decline with numbers down by 1.4 per cent.

Applications for some departments at the university have soared, with 46 per cent more students wanting to study psychology and 26 per cent more looking for places within the physics department.

The university's press and public relations officer, Hilary Layton, said a clear trend of increasing applications had emerged.

She said: "This is putting tremendous pressure on the university to expand."

University leaders want to preserve the high standards of the campus environment, but facilities, buildings and space are under pressure from student numbers, she added.

The rising trend of applications is driven by a number of factors, not least of which is the university's sparkling reputation and repeated success in national league tables.

The university is placed first for teaching quality by The Times Higher and second by The Daily Telegraph. Three national newspapers also place it in their overall top ten. Prospective students are also attracted by the city's high standard of living, guaranteed first-year accommodation for students and the university's international standing as a research centre.

Furthermore, the drop-out rate among the 2,000 first-year undergraduate students is extremely low.

The university's two open days, one of which will be held next month, are attracting record numbers of potential students.

Summer residential courses for teenagers at the Heslington campus have also proved a success in giving youngsters a taste of university life.

Mrs Layton said: "We want to take the brightest and best qualified students, but equally important is opportunity for all.

We want to continue working with inner city and state schools in general to increase applications, although 80 per cent of our intake is already from state schools. But we are not going to change our admissions criteria."

Updated: 08:25 Friday, August 23, 2002