Applications to University of Exeter degree courses at the Tremough Campus, Penryn, are up 122% on last year.

The University of Exeter has had 1,439 applications so far for 2007 courses on its Tremough Campus, which is part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) partnership.

The University of Exeter, which forms part of the CUC will now see around 470 new students to the campus in October.

"We are absolutely thrilled that our applications have more than doubled since last year," said Professor Keith Atkinson, Provost for the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus.

"I think there's a combination of factors at work, including the growing reputation of the University of Exeter as one of the country's top universities and the increased profile of the range of subjects and facilities now available on the Tremough Campus. I also think students are increasingly attracted to the opportunity of studying in one of the most beautiful parts of the country."

The largest increase is in applications to study English, which have gone up by 185%. Geography has had a 106% increase and Biosciences is up 21%. New courses this year, including Politics, Law and History are also proving popular.

"University of Exeter staff should be very proud of this result, which is a testament to the quality of their research and teaching," continued Professor Atkinson.

"I would also like to thank people locally and across the region for their continued support of the Tremough Campus. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of publicity and I believe the way in which people have embraced our activity in Cornwall has had a positive impact on applications."

The actually number of extra pupils at Tremough and at University College Falmouth is expected to exceed 1,000 as more facilities become available on the campus later this year.