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Tuesday 1st February 2011 • Issue 251 • UEA's Independent Student Newspaper • Twitter: @Concrete_UEA
UEAsees 18% increase in applicants as fees set to triple • •
Record number of university applications in anticipation of threefold fee increase UEA reports an unprecedented 18% rise in applications for 2011 I 12 academic year. James Hughes News Reporter
The anticipated scramble for university places for the prospective autumn intake this year has been confirmed by record figures released by UCAS. UEA have announced an increase in applications which reaches nearly 19%. The figures, which UCAS have referred to as the "highest number" of applications since their records began i~ 1964, are indicative of a generation desperate to avoid the imminent rise in the cost of tuition fees, which will take effect from 2012. UEA and the other East Anglian higher education institutions have experienced an unprecedented rise in applicants for the academic year 2011/12 with UEA seeing an astonishing increase of almost 19% on the number of applications from last year. This has raised the application threshold to the tune of around 3,000 extra, whilst the amount of places available remains disproportionate, meaning that the scope for disappointment and rejection will be far greater. The total number of applicants for higher education has increased by 5.1% according to the official statistics; however, these figures
have painted an uncertain picture regarding the movements of the next generation of university applicants. Whilst the numbers depict a percentage increase on recent years, the rate at which candidates applied dipped around the time of the protests against the controversiaJ Higher Education Bill. The significant rate of 20% at which the applications had been rising crashed suddenly after the announcement of the decision to pass the Bill in December. Although the Bill does not come into effect until the academic year 2012/13, the passing of it was enough to discourage this year's applicants from contemplating embarking on a university course. These figures have demonstrated the huge impact that the rise in fees has and will continue to have on future students, who may be blighted by the financial implications of higher education. President of the NUS, Aaron Porter, has put added pressure on ministers claiming that they are "at risk of letting down a generation, who have had opportunities taken away from them and must urgently provide opportunities and funding for our future".
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