Wales has the lowest number of students applying to university out of all UK nations

• ITV Cymru Wales journalist Megan Boot reports.

The proportion of Welsh students applying to higher education has fallen to one in three – the lowest of all the UK nations.

Leo Rawson, from Blackwood, is among the students in Wales who successfully applied to university, heading to Oxford to study physics.

"When you're lucky enough to get the results, it's a good feeling," he told ITV Cymru Wales.

He credits the Welsh Government's Seren network, his time at Blackwood Comprehensive, and his scholarship at Cardiff Sixth Form College for getting him to this position.

"I know you're not supposed to apply for the look (of the university), but it's something that makes you excited," he said of his visit at an open day.

"You just have your breath taken away by this architecture and seeing the colleges and seeing the rooms you could be staying in. It gets you excited, it gets you feeling ambitious."

But the numbers of students like Leo who are applying to go to university is dropping, and there has also been a drop in the number of students from Wales' most disadvantaged areas securing a place at university this year.

"I think the first thing we need to do is just to explain to people the positive benefits of coming to higher education," Dr Ben Calvert, vice-chancellor of the University of South Wales, said.

"We need to explain the opportunities that we have, how that leads to great careers, how that leads to great salaries because at the moment you can understand the dynamic where somebody may well choose to defer into a work environment when the cost of living is high."

Professor Paul Boyle, chair of Universities Wales, said the gap between Wales and the rest of the UK in terms of the number of students applying to university has been growing over the last 15 years.

"It is of concern," he told ITV Cymru Wales.

"We've addressed that in a number of ways. We're talking to the Welsh Government about potentially setting up more work around gathering the data to understand the factors that might underpin that."

He added that universities had had to "try and balance difficult budgets", but that Universities Wales was working hard to make efficiencies.

Addressing the impact of coronavirus and teaching strikes, he said: "I think it's unquestionably true that for students who have been through that Covid experience, it will have been more challenging than for previous cohorts.

"We all work, in schools, further education, and in universities, to make sure we could help them through those periods as best we can.

"I think we're starting to see signs now that students have come through it well. A lot of students have built resilience because of that.

"We're also seeing students doing well in their A-levels. Things are getting back to the sort of levels we would expect.

"We must take account of that, we must recognise the challenges, but actually I think we're now starting to see students come through very well."

He added that students were "unquestionably" getting value for money with a university education and that they "benefit substantially in a range on ways".

"Let's not forget that for the Welsh economy, for Welsh society, these are the doctors, the nurses, the engineers, the artists who we need for the next generation to drive that growth," he added.

The Welsh Government says supporting students' ambition is a priority, but opposition parties have real concerns.

Tom Giffard, Conservative MS for South Wales West, said: "The most concerning element is the growing attainment gap in these results between the wealthiest and the poorest students.

"I think that's something the Welsh Government needs to look at in more detail in terms of the long-term repercussions of Covid, or perhaps the way education policy is being taught in our schools."

Heledd Fychan MS, of Plaid Cymru, said: "I do think we need to ask why in Wales only 33.8% of 18-year-olds are applying to go to university compared to 41.9% in terms of the UK average.

"That's a question I'll certainly be asking Welsh Government."

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