04/09/2016 BBC Wales Today

Good evening.

The number of European students choosing to study at

Welsh universities has hit an all-time high.

More than 1,000 have been accepted on to courses here,

that's up 11%.

Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities both received a record number

of applications from EU students for this term.

But Aberystwyth say the numbers are still fewer than predicted

before the EU referendum.

Caroline Evans reports.

When more than 100 prospective students from the EU

withdrew applications to study at Aberystwyth University

earlier this summer,

the acting Vice Chancellor was clear -

he blamed it on the result of the EU referendum.

But now, according to the latest figures from the universities'

admissions service, here in Aberystwyth and in Cardiff,

there has been a record number of applications from

EU students for this term.

Many in the sector say it is too early yet to know the long term

effects of Brexit, but some believe this increase

in applications may be a short term gain.

I'm sure that the universities have been marketing the fact that these

students pay the same fees as those in Wales, about ?3500,

compared to ?9,000 normally, and then of course, they may be

coming in anticipation of Brexit, maybe they want to have a chance

later on, if Britain leaves the European Union, to come

in on such favourable terms.

While Cardiff University says Brexit has led to "little impact" so far

on its finances, reacting to this latest data,

Aberystwyth University says the numbers applying

are still "measurably fewer" than predicted before the referendum.

In a statement, they say:

With students still able to apply until September 20th,

the University of South Wales, Bangor and Glyndwr Universities

all say they can't confirm how many EU students will be

enrolled when term starts.

But the Welsh Government has said the universities

will continue to do their best to recruit overseas students.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Kirsty Williams says it will take

time for educational reforms here to reflect pupils' performance

in the Pisa international tests.

More than 70 countries are signed up to the tests that assess

students' skills in maths, reading and science

every three years.

Wales performed worse than the rest of the UK in 2012.

The next set of results will be published in December.

Some visitors at Festival Number 6 in Portmeirion say they've been

stranded for hours as they try to make their way home

from the annual music event.

The bad weather caused vehicles to get stuck in the car park,

with allegations that some tractor drivers were charging hundreds

of pounds to tow cars out.

Organisers said they had been made aware of this, and have since dealt

with the situation - however, they are warning that

conditions in one of the car parks are hazardous.

Football, and Wales captain Ashley Williams says he has

no intention of retiring from international football,

ahead of the start of their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

His England counterpart, Wayne Rooney, has said

the tournament in Russia will be his last.

But 32-year-old Williams said they're now focused on getting

another taste of the elation they experienced in the summer.

Wales take on Moldova tomorrow at the Cardiff City Stadium.

We are at home, the top seed, it's something that is a bit of a new

thing, really, where we are not the underdog so much,

probably in a lot more of the games as well and will

have to manage that and deal with it.

Our game where we think we can just roll up and it's going to come

our way, and it's going to be over after 60 minutes...

Every result we get is massive for us.

Just as important as the last one.

Doesn't matter who we are playing against,

it's all about picking up and accumulating enough points

to get us where we need to be.

This is a tough group for us.

For

For different

For different reasons.

The global chocolate crisis caused by a cocoa shortage

could be solved, thanks to scientists in Wales.

Wild mango may be the solution,

according to Bangor University researchers.

They say mango butter can be used as an alternative to cocoa butter,

and it's lower in fat.

A quick look at tomorrow's forecast,

and it'll be rather cloudy,

with light rain and drizzle during the day, along with fog

over the coast and hills.

Warm and humid though, with some brighter spells later.

Top temperature, 22 Celsius.

That's Wales Today.

Nicola Smith will be here with updates in Breakfast from 6.25,

but from all of us on the weekend team, thanks for watching.

Goodnight.