STUDENTS face record competition for university places this autumn, with thousands more applicants scrambling to beat the rise in tuition fees, new figures revealed yesterday.
Applications have surged by almost 9 per cent compared with the same period last year, the biggest increase since Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997. Popular universities, already overwhelmed by well-qualified applicants, are certain to respond by raising their expected A-level grades.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said that an extra 31,453 people are seeking places on degree courses this October, bringing the total to 384,624 from 353,171 last year. Tuition fees will rise to £3,000 a year in 2006 from £1,150.
Ministers sought to head off a rush for places before the increase by adding a late amendment to the Higher Education Bill so that students who took a gap year this year could still pay the lower fee.
However, the concession is only available to those who receive a university offer before August 1, provoking students to compete for places now even if they choose to defer them later.
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Bristol University said that applications were up 9 per cent to 33,159, the equivalent of 11 candidates for one place. A spokesman said: “Inevitably there is upward pressure on grades. The whole situation is becoming more competitive, with students scrapping harder for places.”
Applications to Birmingham University rose 8.7 per cent to 38,668 for 4,800 undergraduate places. Dave Hall, the academic registrar, said: “If we see applications going up then we will increase the grades that we are publicly going to offer.
“We can’t afford to overshoot our targets because we are not funded for the extra students. The undergraduate population we sustain at the moment is the maximum we can have with the resources we receive.”
The issue is politically sensitive for Labour MPs, many of whom are uncomfortable about defending increased fees before a general election. Michael Howard has pledged to abolish tuition fees if the Conservatives form the next government. Labour’s manifesto at the 2001 election promised: “We will not introduce top-up fees and have legislated to prevent them.”
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has provided money for an extra 28,500 places this year, but most of these will be for the vocational two-year foundation degrees. Applications for these have nearly doubled from 9,696 to 18,817.
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Ucas also revealed a surprise drop of 5.3 per cent in applications from foreign students. There were 23,096 applicants from outside the European Union by January 15, against 24,388 last year.
The biggest decline was in China, regarded by British universities as a huge potential source of students willing to pay full fees of up to £20,000 a year. Applications fell by 26 per cent to 3,203 this year. Applications from the ten new EU member states, whose students pay the same fees as British youngsters, rose by 79 per cent, however. A total of 3,427 people from Eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta are seeking places this autumn, compared with 1,917 last year.
Universities UK, which represents the higher-education sector, said that restrictive visa policies were deterring applicants. International students are worth £10.4 billion to the economy. “Their presence is not an optional or added bonus for UK universities, but a vital component to their survival,” a spokeswoman said.
“Universities have reported difficulties over the past year. We believe this is partly caused by excessive charges for visa extensions imposed by the Government without warning in 2003, that have caused resentment and deterred students.
“We are shocked that the Government now proposes to remove the right of appeal if a student’s visa application is initially refused.”
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The Home Office has promised to set up a joint task force to involve universities in decisions.
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