4 UNITE STUDENTS | APPLICANT INDEX REPORT | 2023 When I was a classroom teacher, one of hardest things I had to do was prepare pupils for higher education. At the time, there was very little useful and accessible information available. In the intervening decades, this has gradually changed, with more student surveys and other forms of data being produced, and often made available for free and online. However, different people need different information and there are now over three-quarters of a million higher education applicants each year. Despite the growth in participation, many groups are still severely underrepresented among the undergraduate population – such as those from disadvantaged households, those with experience of care (who have, rightly, been a key focus of the Unite Foundation) and those from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities (as explained in a recent HEPI report ). The pages that follow reveal in particular how people from these communities could be supported better. Continuing improvements in access among these groups, combined with an overall increase in qualified young people, mean UCAS now expect to see one million applicants by 2030. Our work at HEPI looks further ahead, suggesting we could have an additional 350,000 full-time first-year students in England alone by 2035. If the exciting opportunities offered by the new Lifelong Loan are rolled out in such a way that the policy meets its full potential, there will be more part-time, mature and lifelong learners too. They will also need good information, suitable preparation and better support. Moreover, the higher education sector is always changing, with institutions shifting shape and focus, new disciplinary areas taking off while others decline and growing interest in interdisciplinary work. So even if the backgrounds of people applying were not becoming more diverse, there would still be a big job to do in making sure applicants and those who advise them – such as teachers, parents and careers advisers – had up-to-date and relevant information. The annual HEPI / Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey confirms that, after enrolment, 6-in-10 students say they would choose the same course and university again. While this is positive, it means 4-in-10 students say they might have opted for something else. Some people will doubtless always change FOREWORD Nick Hillman Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute