As of Friday morning, the number of 18-year-old women who had secured a university place totalled 133,280, compared with 103,800 men of the same age.

The statistics published by Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed that the gap is the largest on record for this point of the admissions cycle.

The revelation comes a week after A-levels were published, and
shows that women in this age group are 36 per cent more likely to start degree courses than their male peers.