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Teenagers turn their backs on a university education
Mon 6 Feb 2012
Universities have suffered the steepest fall in
applications since records began, with the total number of students
seeking places this autumn plummeting by 8.7 per cent as the true impact
of tuition fee increases is felt.
Last night, there were warnings that the decline would lead to course
closures and redundancies at campuses across the country. An even more
marked drop of 9.9 per cent was recorded in applications from students
in England, where fees are rising to up to £9,000 a year.
More men
than women have been discouraged from applying, with their numbers
falling by 8.5 per cent to 230,342, figures from Universities and
Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed. There are 309,731 female
applicants – 6.7 per cent fewer than at this time last year.
A
subject-by-subject breakdown reveals that the courses suffering the
worst declines include non-European languages such as Japanese and
Mandarin, which are often cited as being vital to the future of the
British economy. Applications to these courses are down 21.5 per cent.
Creative arts and design courses are down by more than 16 per cent and
technology by 17 per cent. The only degrees to register an increase are
some medicine courses, including nursing, which are up 2 per cent.
In all, there are 43,473 fewer applications for degree courses starting in autumn 2012 than there were last year.
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