13th December 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
New university application figures show that there last been an 8% drop in the number of applications from last year, putting the numbers at the lowest for 6 years. The University and Colleges Admission Service have said that so far they have received 13,000 fewer applications than the expected.
Teachers and students’ unions have cited the steep rise in tuition fees as the principle cause of the fall in applications, and say that the results should ‘set alarm bells ringing’ for the government. Whilst there was a drop in the number of applications with the introduction of higher tuition fees last year, government forecasters had expected the demand to recover the following year.
Universities have already been reporting unfilled places, as the rise in tuition fees starts to impact on the number of applications they receive. The government has responded to the figures by saying that it is too early in the year to get a good idea of what the final numbers will be. However, with applications down a full 8% on this time last year, it seems likely that the rise in tuition fees will continue to significantly affect the numbers of students applying for university.