THE DEATH OF HMV | FRANCE: THE WORLD’S POLICEMAN? | US AGAINST THE WORLD
7KHBeaver
22.01.2013
Newspaper of the LSE Students’ Union FREE
LSE accepts more students despite national decline Shu Hang
'DWD IURP WKH 8QLYHUVLWLHV and Colleges Admissions 6HUYLFH 8&$6 UHYHDO WKDW the London School of EcoQRPLFV /6( KDV PDQDJHG to expand its 2012/13 cohort by 11.4 per cent amidst a national decline. Following the controversial tripling in tuition fees last autumn, where Home Students are charged up to ÂŁ9,000 per year, the number of students starting a degree programme has fallen drastically by 12 per cent. Nevertheless, the impact of the reform was not uniform among universities, with the London MetropoliWDQ 8QLYHUVLW\ DFFHSWLQJ per cent less students than last year. The university also VXŕŽ‰ HUHG IURP WKH UHYRFD tion of its license to sponsor international students last year - and even students with pre-existing study visas were also excluded from the university. 8QLYHUVLWLHV ZLWKLQ WKH Russell Group were also KHDYLO\ DŕŽ‰ HFWHG E\ WKH IHH LQFUHDVH ZLWK WKH 8QLYHU sity of Southampton (-13 SHU FHQW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI /LYHUSRRO SHU FHQW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 6KHIILHOG SHU FHQW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI %LUPLQJKDP SHU FHQW DQG ,PSHULDO SHU FHQW DF cepting less student than the year before. Nevertheless, many universities were able to buck WKH WUHQG 7KH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI Bristol increased its student intake by 28 per cent comSDUHG ZLWK EHQHன WLQJ from the new AAB system, which allowed universities to recruit as many students with those grades or better at A-Level as they can. Other winners include 8QLYHUVLW\ &ROOHJH /RQGRQ
6FKRRO FR૸ HUV swelled amidst /LE\DQ D૸ DLU backlash Kelly Quinn, 6WD༠5HSRUWHU
SHU FHQW WKRXJK LW DOVR EHQHன WWHG IURP LWV PHUJHU with the London School of 3KDUPDF\ &DUGLŕŽ‰ 8QLYHUVL W\ SHU FHQW DQG .LQJ‍ڑ‏V College London (+12 per FHQW 6LPLODUO\ WKH /6( ZHO comed 1,416 students into the LSE this autumn, 145 more than last year. The LSE is the only Russell Group university to decline, at the time, charging
the maximum fee of £9,000, setting fees at £8,500 instead. While many have linked the increase in student cohort to the LSE’s decision to charge £500 less than its contemporaries, the school actually saw its number of applications receive drop by 8.1 per cent from last year, leading to the belief that the increase is due to a higher
acceptance rate. Judith Rees, the previous Director of the LSE has attributed the fall in application to the increase in entry requirements in certain subjects, which has discouraged “students who wouldn’t be accepted anyways� from applying, adding that the biggest fall in Continued on page 4, col 1.
The 2011-2012 academic year was a tumultuous one for LSE: the release of the Woolf Report criticising the administration for its links to *DGGDன DQG QHZ 8. KLJKHU education policies were just two difficulties the School encountered. The recently released Annual Accounts report sought to analyse the year in depth, particularly ZLWK UHJDUG WR ன QDQFHV OHDG ership, demographics, sustainability. “2011-12 has been a challenging year for the School, but we have pulled together and had a successful year in almost all important areas,â€? said Professor Judith Rees, who served as Director during this period. 7KH 6FKRRO‍ڑ‏V ன QDQFHV IRU the year remained strong, boasting a total income ÂŁ243.7m, up ÂŁ10m from the previous year. Despite retrenchments of public funding, it saw a 9.1 per cent increase in its income surplus to ÂŁ24.7m. The report attributed this spike in part to higher tuition fees, which now comprise over 50 per cent of income. Following radical reform by the Coalition government, students entering the LSE for the 2012/13 academic year are charged ÂŁ8,500 in tuition fees, nearly triple the amount paid by the previous cohort. Nevertheless, LSE remains Continued on page 5, col 1.
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