University applications down by 8.9%

University applications from UK students for courses starting this autumn have dropped by 8.9 percent, according to recent UCAS figures. England was most affected, with a drop of 10 percent, equating to around 50,000 students.

The rise in tuition fees, which are set to almost treble for students starting courses at English universities in 2012/13, have widely been cited as the main reason behind the drop. While university applications fell by 10 percent in England, Scotland experienced a drop in 2 percent, while Wales and Northern Ireland’s figures fell by 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Sean Ruston, the Students’ Union (SU) Education Officer, commented: “prior to the fee rise the application numbers had been rising year on year, so its probable that the higher fee has led to the drop,” adding that “applications have held up in Wales and Scotland, where fees have been kept low (or not brought in at all in Scotland).”

However, the figures also suggest that the biggest reduction in university applications in England was registered in the 20 percent most advantaged areas. This seems to undermine the argument that young adults from less advantaged families are increasingly forced to reconsider attending university due to the rise in fees. Nevertheless, it is also clear that students from wealthier homes are still several times more likely to apply to university.

Interestingly, Scottish universities, which do not charge Scottish students tuition fees, have raised their fees for English students in line with Coalition policy. Ruston said this “deliberate attempt to stop cross border flows” is likely to “keep cross-border applications to a minimum” in future.

The decline in applications has been sharpest among mature students, with 12 percent fewer applications for 19-year olds and the 25-29 age group, compared with a mere 3 percent for 18-year old school leavers. It is indeed likely that this trend is due to the new tuition fees, as mature students, already in the safe haven of employment, are having to seriously reconsider whether another stint at university is financially viable.

According to Ruston, it is this decline in applications from mature students that “is really damaging”. He added: “[I am] considerably worried that the University’s short-sighted decision to raise fees for students at the Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) will have a disastrous effect on admissions.”

The drop in applications to Warwick may, more specifically, also be due to the University’s increasing standards. According to the University’s Head of Communications, Peter Dunn, a drop in applications was expected. “This is because we are consistently ranked as one of the UK’s top ten research universities.”

Dunn added that “this year we actually increased the entry grades we require to the point where almost every one of our courses requires AAB at A Level and, even with that increase in required grades, we still have over 6 applicants for every place.”

Indeed, Warwick remains a popular choice for UK, EU, and international students. Incoming Law student Ilona Salo from Finland, told the _Boar_ that she chose Warwick over universities in Finland for linguistic reasons, as well as due to the specificity of her degree course. However, she admitted that the University’s prestige was “a leading factor” in her decision-making.

Commenting on the cost, Salo added: “the tuition fees were a huge turn off, but I had very few options to choose from, because I wanted to study law. Otherwise, I think many people have realised that attending university is not the only way to get a good job nowadays.”

It remains to be seen whether or not application figures will recover fairly quickly, as they have done before, most recently in 2006. Ruston believes that “it is impossible to tell at this stage, though it is clear that the fee increase is much larger than in 2006.”