The number of Scottish applicants missing out on a university place increased to a new record level last year after more than doubling over the past decade of SNP rule, official figures have disclosed.

Universities admissions body Ucas has published data showing the number of Scots who failed to win a place after the 2007 admissions cycle was 8,280 but this increased to a record 16,645 in 2016.

The SNP’s free tuition policy is only affordable because Nationalist ministers impose a cap on the number of places allocated to Scottish and EU students.

A damning Audit Scotland report last year found that the cap has not kept pace with an increasing number of applications, meaning more Scots are losing out on a place.

SNP ministers recently hailed a 1.8 per cent increase in the number of Scottish school leavers accepted last year to universities north of the Border.

However, the proportion of Scottish applicants who were offered a place fell 2.6 points to 59.6 per cent, while the offer rates for fee-paying English and Northern Irish youngsters increased.

Ucas found that applicants from England and Northern Ireland are now around 15 per cent more likely to receive an offer from a Scottish university than those from Scotland.