Universities to Cut Places by up to 10%

New information released today has revealed that the majority of universities in the UK will be forced to cut places for new students as part of changes made by the government. The restriction on places is designed to encourage more universities to charge lower tuition fees, but instead the result has been that many universities have offered fewer, more expensive places.

by Whatuni Editor

Last Updated:

09 Dec 2014

First Published:

29 Mar 2012

Government rules state that if a uni charges less than £7,500 per year for tuition fees, they are allowed to open up additional places to students expecting AAB or over at A-Level. The result has been that a lot of Further Education colleges offering higher education courses like Bachelors Degrees, HNDs and HNCs at a lower cost are expanding their student numbers.

Professor Michael Farthing, Director of the 1994 Group of Universities, warned that ‘many excellent students will be denied places at their first choice universities. The number of students universities are allowed to recruit has been cut across the sector, with 20,000 places auctioned off to institutions with lower than average fees. Far from giving the best universities freedom to take on more students this represents a push to a cut-price education.’