Record applications for university

We need to offer more support to young people throughout their education so that they are in a position to realise their ambitions at 18 and beyond

Sir Peter Lampl, The Sutton Trust

Record numbers of pupils are applying for university or aspire to attend, according to new research. Around 77 per cent of students aged 11 to 16 believe it likely that they will go into higher education, up from 72 per cent in 2008, and Ucas reports that university applications are up 10 per cent this year.

This rise in applications has created a shortfall in places of up to 52,000. Educationalists believe that an increase in the number of mature students applying to do a degree has placed added pressure on university entrance (applications from British over-25s are up 22 per cent year on year). There are, however, only 3000 extra places available at British universities this year, and the Government has capped this number to limit spending.

British students also face stiff competition from superb EU students keen to study in Britain. Data released in June revealed a surge of 16.4 per cent in such applications this year and that many were coming from France and Germany.

The consequences for those UK pupils who fail to get the grades in August could be dire, as Vice Chancellors warn of tightening in entrance criteria and a decrease in the number of places handed out through clearing.

Dr Helen Wright, headteacher of leading independent school St Mary's, Calne, comments: "It has been increasingly tough for school leavers to get into university for the past few years. As a result, I think it is very important for university to be a conscious and considered choice for school leavers. Too many people just fall into university rather than think carefully about whether they really want to go, what it will mean for them for the next few years, and what they hope to get out of it.

"The drop out rate is high on far too many courses, and this wastes everyone's time. Schools should be very active in helping potential students really understand their choices and what they want to do with their lives, as well as supporting them to help them find either the course or career path that best suits them."

What is university for?

Dr Martin Stephen, High Master of St Paul's School in London, believes that collectively we have not given enough consideration to the function of university. "It's short-termism. We have sent hundreds of thousands of people to university without asking ‘what is a university for' and ‘what is a degree for'? Is it to prepare people for a top-level job; is it to provide the next generation of research students; is it a finishing school or is it a way of keeping people off the dole?

"The problem is, university has become market-driven instead of having a social drive. For example, we need more engineers and science students in the UK and fewer media studies graduates, but it now comes down to what the applicant wants to study not what the country needs."

Dr Stephen is seeing worrying social trends emerging among young people as a result of this lack of focus. "There's a lot of dissent from young people with good degrees and poor job prospects. You end up with huge numbers of graduates with massive debts working in McDonald's selling hamburgers for a manager who, as a peer, left school at 18 and decided not to go to university."

Debt defying 

Clearly, the current economic downturn and scarcity of graduate jobs has spurred more children on to aim for higher education. It's notable, also, that only 13 per cent of the children surveyed by The Sutton Trust were "worried about getting into debt as a student" in comparison with 20 per cent of respondents last year.

The survey also revealed that children do not think they're getting enough information from teachers about going into higher education. Around 31 per cent said they are either getting "not very much information" and nine per cent said that they got "none at all".

Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust, says: "While it is encouraging that three quarters of young people aspire to university, less than half that number currently end up in higher education and those from poorer families are the least likely to progress. So we need to offer more support to young people throughout their education so that they are in a position to realise their ambitions at 18 and beyond."

It's worth noting that the figures for 1996 included two more academic degrees, history and biology, and that 2006's list shows signs of a move towards more vocational subjects. Therefore even before the recession hit, students were showing greater consciousness of their future career options. This trend could also be attributed to the ever-expanding breadth of choice in degree subjects over the past decade.

Also of interest is the fact that applications to economics courses have increased by 13.8 per cent in the past year, suggesting that the economic crisis is boosting interest in the subject rather than discouraging it.

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