This is the first in what is intended to be a regular series of short publications. It will enable the effects of the new variable fees arrangements for UK and EU domiciled full-time undergraduates attending Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded higher education institutions (HEIs) in England to be monitored. It brings together a range of information from publicly accessible sources and the institutions themselves about the demand for higher education, the nature of the student body, the fees and bursary arrangements and the financial situation of institutions. The report's purpose is to provide a baseline for considering the effects of the changes introduced in England in the autumn of 2006. Although it is primarily concerned with full-time undergraduate students, it also seeks to provide a baseline for measuring any impact of the changes to full-time undergraduate fees on the demand for part-time higher education. While the major focus of this work relates to England, some statistics have also been presented for the other countries of the United Kingdom, in order to provide a basis for comparative analysis. Appended are: (1) Applications and acceptances, 1995 and 2004; (2) First-year full-time UK-domiciled undergraduate students by principal 40 subject of study, 2003/04 and 2004/05; and (3) Applications by region, 2004, 2005 and 2006. (Contains 11 figures, 14 tables, and 13 footnotes.)