TEACHERS and students have been praised after figures revealed that nearly 1000 extra pupils from Blackburn with Darwen went to university last year.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that around 4,730 people from the area enrolled at university in the 2020/21 academic year, a figure which has risen each year since the 2014/15 academic year, which saw 3,785 enrolments.

A total of over 2.7million students in the UK went to university last year, with more than 2.2million of these coming from England.

Blackburn with Darwen Council executive member for educations Cllr Julie Gunn said: "It’s really positive to see the increase in numbers every year.

"We’re really aspirational for our young people and the important thing is that they’re achieving their goals.

"I think our schools are very good at opening doors for young people in terms of making connections with universities and telling pupils what’s on offer for their future."

The statistics in the dataset were rounded to the nearest five or 10.

Most students from the area elected to stay in their home county of Lancashire for their higher education, with universities in Greater Manchester also proved popular.

Cllr Gunn said: "I think we’ve got some fabulous universities locally such as Lancaster and UCLAN.

"It also allows students to study and balance their work commitments.

"For those students moving away I think Manchester is a very exciting place to study."

The University of Central Lancashire in Preston proved the most popular destination for studies, with 1,480 students attending, while the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford rounded out the top three with 340 and 330 enrolments respectively.

Lancashire universities such as the Lancaster, Edge Hill, and the University of Cumbria, which has a campus in Lancaster, also proved popular with over 100 enrolments each.

In Greater Manchester, the University of Manchester and the University of Bolton also had around 200 students from the area who attended each last academic year.

Some high achievers from the area also attended the UK’s most prestigious institutions, with 20 enrolments at Oxford and 10 at Cambridge.