The boost in interest at the town’s university is 10 times the national increase and has seen 4,000 more applications than this time last year.

According to data published by UCAS there has been a national increase of 2 per cent in “on time” applications for the 2015/16 academic year.

Currently the university has an average of six potential students for every space it has available and the total number who have shown an interest is more than 23,000.

Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor, said: “It is excellent to buck the national trend so dramatically given the tough, competitive undergraduate market. It’s no surprise that with our world-class research, award-winning campus and high employability record that students want to come to the University of Reading. The hard work now starts to turn those applications into firm acceptances - but such a big pool means we are drawing from the brightest and the best.”

The UCAS statistics released today also showed a three per cent rise in the number of students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds who applied for university.

Reading University saw the highest increase in overseas applications which rose by 36 per cent, on top of a 19 per cent increase in UK/EU applications.

The top ten courses so far are; biological sciences, law, management, psychology, geography, English literature, pharmacy, accounting, economics and history.