Tuition fee rises deterring A-level students from university – poll

New survey suggests 10% of current A-level students put off applying in UK, with nearly half considering going abroad One in 10 students currently studying for A-levels has been put off university because of the increase in tuition fees next year, a new survey suggests. In addition, half of those polled would consider going to a local university to save money, while just under half said they would consider studying abroad to avoid the sharp increase in fees. The ComRes survey, commissioned by the BBC, shows that almost two-thirds would consider apprenticeships as an alternative to a degree. The survey has been published as a weekend report suggested that some universities are experiencing a steep drop in demand for courses beginning next September, with one, City University London, saying applications are down 41.4%. Goldsmiths has reported a 35% drop while Brunel has 24% fewer candidates, according to figures gathered by the Sunday Times. The survey of universities appears to match the ComRes survey, showing a broad decline of about 10%. However, some universities, including the London School of Economics, Queen Mary, and Bath, are seeing rises in applications, according to the report. The Universities and Colleges Admission Service (Ucas) is due to release figures today for the number of applications received by 15 October, the deadline for Oxford, Cambridge and courses in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Candidates for other universities have until 15 January to apply, but there has been a trend for early submissions. An Ucas spokesman indicated that demand for Oxbridge and medical courses has held up this year. He said: “In the figures we’re going to publish there’s a difference between the overall headline figure to date and the figures for Oxbridge and medicine courses where the early deadline makes a difference. It’s just too early in the cycle for us to say whether we’re going to see a drop in demand [overall].” Demographic factors could also be behind any dip in applications. The number of 18-year-olds in the UK is projected to decline for the rest of this decade. A number of universities are now reconsidering the amount they intend to charge after the government gave them incentives to set an average fee under £7,500. In July, a government watchdog announced that the estimated average fee across all English universities was £8,393. At the time, 47 planned to charge the maximum of £9,000 as their standard fee. The BBC Inside Out/ComRes survey, which interviewed 1,009 A-level students in England this month, found the vast majority were worried about the burden of debt and thought it hard to get a job after university. But most still planned to go to university. Wes Streeting, chief executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, an educational charity, said: “My main concern is about widening participation. If it is the case that higher tuition fees are having a detrimental impact on the number of applications, then schools, colleges and government need to redouble their efforts to get the facts out. “When people look at the details, some of the fears that families still have about paying fees upfront may be allayed.” Under reforms introduced by the government last year, students will be able to take out state-backed loans to pay for their fees, as they do now. In future, graduates will pay back 9% of their income above £21,000. Graduates will pay interest on their loans, of a maximum of inflation plus 3%. Any outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years, so graduates with low lifetime earnings will be protected. A poll earlier this month showed the number of teenagers enrolled at further education colleges in England declining for the first time in 12 years, with some institutions reporting a slump in numbers of up to 15%. The Association of Colleges asked half the colleges in the country – 182 institutions – how enrolments for this autumn compared year-on-year. Overall, the number of students had dropped by 0.1%, the equivalent of almost 600 students. But in a quarter of the colleges, the number of students had fallen by between 5% and 15%. Tuition fees Higher education Students University of London University administration University funding Apprenticeships Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk

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