The number of students applying to attend universities this September has fallen by 8.9 per cent, when compared to the number of applicants last year. But is it any wonder that people are put off going to university as they will be charged up to £9,000 per annum from this autumn.
The figure corresponds to around 50,000 less students attending university from September. This is not only bad news for universities but also retail and leisure commercial properties that are boosted by students spending.
Speaking of the drop in applicants, Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s spokeswoman for universities, said: “The decision of the Tory-led government to treble tuition fees to £9,000 is hitting young people and their aspirations.”
However, according to David Willetts the Universities Minister, the application figures for this year are “the second highest on record.” He continued: “This will still be a competitive year like any other as people continue to understand that university remains a good long term investment for their future.”
The worst affected part of the UK was England with a drop of 10 per cent in university applicants. But it seems that mature students are those that have been put off from applying the most. The number of students aged over 25 that applied this year was down by 12 per cent, whereas school leavers were only down by 3 per cent.
This year’s drop in student applications is the second largest fall since 2006 – when the last tuition fee increase was introduced. But that was only a temporary glitch in applications as 2007 saw figures back to normal. But with such a dramatic increase in fees (roughly triple), do you think the same thing will happen for the 2013 applications? Or are the fees simply too high? Share your thought below.
