Bangor Students’ Union’s English Language Newspaper
ISSN 1755-7585
Issue No. 222
£9K? NO WAY!
February Issue 2012
INSIDE: Competitions!
90s night special!
• posts 8.7% drop in university applications • Fees being increased to £9000 to blame? Jez Harvey
F
igures recently released by UCAS have shown an 8.7% drop in university applications under the new £9000 fee regime being brought into place in 2012. In England, the figure was nearly 10%, with only a 1.5% drop in Scotland, where students do not pay fees. There are other important variances in the figures - applications have dropped faster amongst men, mature students and for certain
courses. For example, a man in Wales is only half as likely to have applied as a woman from Northern Ireland. Student leaders have decried the fall in applications, and claimed that it is a direct result of the Government’s fee increase. Liam Burns, President of the National Union of Students said, “The perception of debt will be playing heavy... It’s no surprise that when you don’t have any sort of fees in Scotland and when Wales has protected their students from paying any more regardless of where they study, you see a much smaller decline”.
The drop in applications has been prominent at Bangor University as well. Applications have dropped by over 10% at the institution. It is important to note, though, that applications last year were significantly higher than before due to the fee rise. Compared with applications from two years ago, the figures are still 7% higher. Jo Caulfield, President of Bangor Students’ Union, stated, “Obviously, any drop in student numbers is a concern, both on a local and national level. We in the student movement were always concerned about the effect
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increased fees would have on applications to higher education and, unfortunately, it seems that we have been vindicated. Locally, our priority is to ensure that those students who do end up at this institution get as much value as possible from their time at University, and we will continue to work with and lobby the University to ensure that resource is directed towards enhancing the student experience”.
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