An added worry is that the School Direct scheme was less successful than universities in filling the places allocated to it last year.
That would not include France, who alongside England, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, are expected to take the five places allocated for teams that will not need to qualify.
More people from underdeveloped regions are enrolling in the country's leading universities, thanks to 185,000 government places allocated to students from these areas this year.
"Although NHS trusts have been given more than 1,400 Tier 2 certificates of sponsorship for nurses since April this year, over 600 of the places allocated to them in April and May this year were returned unused".
"Lots of parents are very content with the school places allocated to their children, but in some areas – parts of London, Bristol, East Sussex and Birmingham, for example – the admissions system is starting to feel seriously creaky".
The course places, allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, include a mixture of residential and non-residential training events and will take place at locations including Belfast, Edinburgh and Cheltenham.
In a letter to universities and colleges, Hefce stressed that it would still be forced to penalise institutions that over-recruit students beyond the extra places allocated to them.
The first dead fish popped up to the surface on Monday in the form of an announcement that 27 universities had applied to reduce their fees below an average of £7,500pa so that they could qualify for the 20,000 places allocated to institutions offering cheaper courses.
There are no longer any Fair Play places allocated to the Europa League.
Of the 1033 places allocated, nearly 40% are for accelerated graduate-entry courses.
