A gauge of refinancing applications slumped 24.1percentto to 4,240.4, also the lowest since the third week of July.
However, this year's figures from the universities admissions service Ucas showed that HND applications slumped by more than 8,000, suggesting Mr Clarke still has a huge selling job to do both to students and to employers.
Applications slumped by the biggest ever amount, down by about 40,000 in England when they were introduced in 2012.
Demographic factors could also be behind the slump in applications.
Demographic factors could also be behind a slump in applications.
The predicted effect of the £9,000 annual fees – a permanent slump in applications from discouraged students – has failed to materialise.
Mr Cameron's efforts to curb immigration to Britain has led to a slump in applications for student visas from India and offended its government.
A slump in applications was forecast last year as thousands of would-be students gave up gap years to start university courses in 2011 to avoid paying higher fees when they were introduced this September.
Pam Tatlow, chief executive of thinktank million+, said the figures could indicate a further slump in university application rates and said alarm bells should be ringing in government.
This paper presents mixture proportions and measured properties for a series of six high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concretes, five containing a ternary component of a fine limestone powder, with cement replacement levels of 40% or 60% by volume, targeting moderate slump (150 mm) applications.
