英大学申请人数大幅下降 多所名牌高校或降线招生
Universities will be forced to compete harder than ever to fill empty places after the release of A-Level results this week, as experts report that a dip in UK university applications means a “great year for students”. Some Russell Group universities will lower their entry requirements in a bid to enlist students onto under-subscribed courses, sector leaders predict. Applications to UK universities were down by 4 percent this year, due to a sharp fall in the number of applications from European Union students as well as a broader long-term decline in the size of the youth population. As a result, 'clearing' - the process where students who do not achieve the grades required for their preferred university search for spaces on rival, under-subscribed courses - will be more competitive than ever, as admissions teams scramble to fill empty places. “Clearing will be as competitive as previous years, if not more so because of the demographic dip,” Christine Edgar, head of student recruitment and admissions at the University of Sheffield, told Times Higher Education (THE). “It's going to be a great year for students,” she added. Durham, Edinburgh, Bristol, and other top Russell Group universities are all offering places through clearing this year. The University of Bristol is offering places on 98 courses through clearing, including Chemistry, Physics, and Philosophy, whilst the University of Leeds is offering places on 530 courses. The University of Exeter is advertising unfilled places on 75 courses, including Modern Languages and Archaeology, whilst the University of Birmingham has two courses available: Pharmacy and Social Work. Mike Nicholson, director of student recruitment and admissions at the University of Bath, said that many universities will use their ranking in the government's recent Teaching Excellence Framework to lure students in. “Universities that have a gold rating will be pushing hard to promote this in their publicity campaigns,” he told THE. He also predicted that many of the UK's most competitive institutions will dip into the pool of students with grades lower than they would usually accept. But Sir Ian Diamond, vice-chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and deputy chair of Ucas, cautioned universities against dropping their entry requirements too low. Universities must ensure that students have the academic ability to succeed on the courses they are accepted to, he said. |