A record number of Scottish students were accepted to a UK university this year, according to the latest figures.

Despite a fall in the overall UK student figures, more than 37,000 applicants living in Scotland accepted a place for this academic year.

Figures from the University and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) End of Cycle Report 2018 showed there was a 1.6 per cent rise in Scottish students accepting offers, an increase of 570 on the previous record level of 2017.

Nursing courses saw a particular increase in students in Scotland, with a 4.7 per cent rise in acceptances to 3,375 in 2018.

Scotland’s higher education minister, Richard Lochhead, said: “This increase in acceptances for Scottish students in 2018 comes at a time when there are decreases in the number of acceptances for students from all other parts of the UK.

“These positive figures demonstrate that our secondary and further education systems are performing strongly, giving students the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in the next steps of their education.”

The Ucas report said: “This year, the number of UK domiciled acceptances has been the lowest since 2014, at 459,285. This is a 0.8 per cent decrease from last year, and a 1.3 per cent decrease from the highest level in 2016.

“Scotland is the only UK domicile to show an increase, of 1.6 per cent, resulting in 570 more acceptances.”

Ucas figures also showed more than a third of 18-year-olds from England, Northern Ireland and Wales received a form of unconditional offer before completing their qualifications.

However, Scottish students were not part of the analysis as it did not have data for further education colleges, which represents around one third of young full-time undergraduate study in Scotland.

Earlier this week, a study from public services thinktank Reform said that elite universities are all but failing to increase access for disadvantaged pupils.