An even higher proportion of religious education, music, general science and technology courses still have places. However, overall, applications in England have increased by 14 per cent since last year.

Secondary postgraduate applications have increased by 10.5 per cent to 25,306 in England and are up 3.7 per cent to 1,611 in Wales. The primary figures are even higher - only 10 courses have places.

Secondary maths courses are more popular than in previous years, with applications up nearly 27 per cent to 2,337.

Without a surge in maths applications next month, the subject is unlikely to hit government recruitment targets. However, the targets will be missed by a smaller margin than previously, according to John Howson, director of Education Data Services.

French and music applications are both down more than 6 per cent, but the fall in French is compensated for by increases in other modern foreign languages, particularly German and Spanish.

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