Contents 1 Introduction 3 Foreword - Joe Lister 4 Foreword - Nick Hillman 5 Executive Summary 6 About the Applicant Index 8 Notes on data categories 9 The Applicant Index Scores 2022-24 10 Introducing the Themes 11 2 Thematic Analysis 12 Finance 13 Social 19 Community 21 Wellbeing 23 Resilience 27 Learning 28 Employment 32 Independence 33 Sustainability 35 3 Topical issues 36 The Transition to Higher Education 37 Alternatives to university 38 Withdrawing before enrolment 39 Data sharing 40 4 Methodology 41 Methodology 42 Unite Students | Applicant Index Report 2