8th October 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
New data published by the universities and colleges admission service UCAS has revealed that student numbers in the 2013 academic year have returned to the levels before tuition fees were raised. After an initial dip in the number of applications, the numbers for this year show that students are still attracted to studying at university despite the increase in fees to £9,000 a year. The data shows that universities admitted 446,000 students this academic year, a 9% rise on last year.
There were initial concerns that the rise in tuition fees could see applications for university fall considerably, with students worried that they could not afford to take on debts of up to £27,000 to cover their fees alone. When tuition fees were raised in 2012, applications plummeted to 408,000 as many students expressed concerns about the consequences of taking on considerable debts. However, although the applications from English students have risen this year, the tuition fees continue to put Scottish students off. This year figures show that just 1,540 Scottish students took up places at English universities, with the majority of Scottish students choosing to undertake courses at Scottish universities where they do not have to pay tuition fees.
Universities UK has said that the results show a positive trend in young people still deciding that a university education would be valuable. They noted that the number of 18 year olds in the country has shrunk, as people have been having fewer children, and commented that for this reason it is particularly significant that so many of them wanted to go into higher education. Current figures show that more students are now being recruited to university with at least AAB grades, meaning that universities can accept more students as this group does not count towards the government’s cap on numbers. At present, a total of 49.3% of young people in England are in higher education, and this figure is expect to rise over the coming years.