Around 10,000 fewer students have applied to go to university in Kent this year.

That is equivalent to losing a student population the size of Birchington, in Thanet.

It comes after the government tripled tuition fees for some courses, meaning students faced having to pay up to £9,000 a year.

According to official figures released today by university admissions body UCAS, just more than 80,000 young people want to attend universities in the county this September - a drop of around 11% on 2011.

Canterbury Christ Church University saw the smallest drop, with 887 fewer students applying – a 5% decrease.

The University of Kent had 2,085 fewer students put in an application. But with 25,934 young people applying in total, that is a drop of just more than 7%.

However, the University of Greenwich - which has a campus in Medway - has had more than 4,000 fewer students apply, a slump of more than 10% on 2011.

But it is the University of Creative Arts, based in Rochester, that has seen the biggest drop – it has had almost a third fewer students apply this year compared to last year, falling from 9,664 in 2011 to 6,842 in 2012.

A spokesman said: "UCA has been affected by a disproportionate drop in applications for arts subjects that all arts institutions have suffered in the past year (16.9%).

"This year, despite the decrease in applications, we still have three times the number of students applying for the 1,879 undergraduate places that we can offer and will be entering clearing to ensure that all places are filled."

The total decrease in applications for Kent universities this year is 9,918.

Nationally, universities have seen a mixed picture when it comes to students applying to start degree courses this year with an overall drop of around 9%.