Elite universities struggling to fill courses
RUSSELL Group universities are struggling to fill places through clearing after a cap on student numbers was lifted.
More than 4,000 courses have vacancies at most elite universities, with A-level results published next Thursday. Sought-after courses such as law, engineering, English literature and history remain unfilled as universities dramatically expanded to enrol more students. Last night, Bristol and King’s College London both had 100 courses with empty places. Leeds had 524 places and Liverpool 591.
The lifting of a student cap in England in 2015 meant universities could recruit unlimited numbers of students. It led to accusations that universities were commercial ventures, interested only in maximising revenues. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Educa- tion Policy Institute, said: “Russell Group universities have arguably benefited the most from the lifting of the cap on student numbers.” But he warned expansion was a “double edged sword”, adding: “If they take on lots of students who don’t thrive at university, then that will fairly quickly show in dropout rates. They are also conflicted
as most are under pressure to take students from tough backgrounds.”
A decline in the population of 18-year-olds led to applications falling by 1.6 per cent, a dip that left top ranking institutions scrambling to fill places. While entry criteria for courses are set out, universities do accept students with A-level grades below official offers during the clearing process.
Figures from Ucas, the university admissions service, show the total of British applicants down by 3.4 per cent, the lowest since the Government raised annual tuition fees to £9,000 in 2012.
Dr Christina Edgar, director of student recruitment and admissions at Sheffield, said so many top courses were on offer that students could afford to “shop around”. Sheffield, a Russell Group member, has doubled the number of students it has admitted through clearing every year since 2015.
Ms Edgar added that lifting the cap had heightened competition for students between universities. Many had built new facilities to accommodate more recruits. Sheffield opened an £83million building last year. “It was part of our long term plan,” she said.
Andrew Carr, admissions manager at Bishop Grosseteste in Lincoln said: “Clearing used to be like a car boot sale, where you can get good stuff but not always the best. Now it’s like the Boxing Day sales – you can get exactly what you would have got a few weeks earlier, but if you leave it too late you only get the XXLS and the XXSS.” Elite universities had lately invested very heavily in attracting students this way, he added.