THE Government last night bowed to pressure to provide more university places, days after it was revealed that almost 50,000 applicants could lose out this autumn.

The Prime Minister confirmed that more places will be funded and that the Universities Minister, David Lammy, will announce the details shortly.

Answering questions at a Commons liaison committee, Gordon Brown said: “We will be providing more places than have been announced previously.

“I believe that is the right thing to do.”

It is understood that around 10,000 extra places will be made available for this September, and the details are expected imminently.

It comes just days after Ucas figures showed a 9.7% increase in applications to degree courses – an extra 52,000 would-be students.

But the Government previously capped student numbers, with just 3,000 extra places available for full time first-year students this year, because of a £200m funding shortfall.

It means that around 49,000 people could miss out.

The announcement of extra places is likely to go some way towards plugging the gap, although it is highly unlikely to meet demand.