Colchester News
Essex Uni is bucking the national drop in applications
8:00am Sunday 5th February 2012
THE rising cost of university tuition fees has proved a sticking point for an entire generation of students.
The issue threatened to split the coalition Government apart as traditionally fee-opposing Lib Dems saw charges hiked to £9,000 in their first year in office.
Opponents said students from lower and middle-class backgrounds would be priced out of going to university.
New figures released by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) reveal applications for courses to start in September – when the new fees come into effect – have dropped.
Applications fell by 7.4 per cent with those from UK students falling 8.7 per cent.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “The figures are worrying and highlight the Government’s folly in raising tuition fees to as much as £9,000 a year.
“We cannot afford a system that puts people off university if we are to compete in the modern world. Other countries are encouraging their best and brightest to get on, not putting up punitive barriers.
“This Government risks returning us to a time when money, not ability, mattered most for success.”
However, the University of Essex has bucked the national trend by seeing more people apply to study there than last year. Data shows a rise of 3.6 per cent this year and staff say this is part of a wider trend.
Joanne Tallentire, head of admissions at the university, said application numbers had risen 46 per cent over the past four years.
She said: “We are incredibly pleased, especially given changes in the funding and the variable performance of other universities, which are affected in various ways.
“It is the sign of a successful university – students, parents and teachers like what they see at open days and our facilities.
“The success we are seeing is testament to the high quality student experience.”
As the university raises its fees to the £9,000 limit, Mrs Tallentire said it was more important for universities to offer value for money.
“It is important to consider what finances people are looking at and if provision is good value,” she said.
“We have worked hard in terms of outreach and recruitment to explain a quite complicated student finance landscape and how the tuition fee system works.
“It is also important to emphasise you don’t have to pay up-front and there are a number of support packages provided both by the Government, in non-repayable maintenance grants, and by the university, through bursaries and scholarships.”
An analysis of the figures showed the number of students from the Eastern region applying to go to university this year was down 10.2 per cent on the previous year.
And Essex University has noticed a slight decrease in students from Essex.
Nationally, science, technology and non-European language courses saw the biggest drop in applications this year, with only medicine-related degrees seeing an increase.
But Essex seems to be fighting the tide. Applications for the university’s business school, based on the Southend campus, are steadily rising with a 15 per cent increase over the past three years. Nursing degrees, also run at the Southend site, are one of the university’s most popular degrees.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan said: “This is an encouraging sign that students are recognising the value of an Essex degree.
“We are focusing on investing in the best possible student experience with teaching inspired by our leading academic research.
“What is really encouraging is the trend in applications over the last four years.”
Essex University is not the only centre in Colchester to defy the national trend.
Colchester Institute, which offers some higher education courses with the university, has seen applications rise 23 per cent this year.