This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/19/universities-fight-for-applicants-in-clearing
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Frenzied battle to snare students as universities fight for survival | Frenzied battle to snare students as universities fight for survival |
| (5 months later) | |
| Rebecca Ratcliffe and Rebecca Houston | |
| Sun 20 Aug 2017 00.05 BST | |
| Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 02.49 GMT | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| “It’s the toughest year yet,” said Sarah Gordon, head of outreach and engagement at London South Bank University, after a gruelling few days following the publication of the A-level results last week. “There are fewer 18-year-olds, Ucas applications are down on last year and students have more choice.” | “It’s the toughest year yet,” said Sarah Gordon, head of outreach and engagement at London South Bank University, after a gruelling few days following the publication of the A-level results last week. “There are fewer 18-year-olds, Ucas applications are down on last year and students have more choice.” |
| Gordon was standing, bleary eyed, in the university’s call centre, where current students were still busy answering inquiries from the most coveted properties in the higher education market: unattached students. | Gordon was standing, bleary eyed, in the university’s call centre, where current students were still busy answering inquiries from the most coveted properties in the higher education market: unattached students. |
| On Thursday, Gordon stayed up all night in case calls came in. Not a single one can go unanswered. The scramble for students was continuing throughout the weekend, with universities hosting pop-up open days and targeting students on social media. | On Thursday, Gordon stayed up all night in case calls came in. Not a single one can go unanswered. The scramble for students was continuing throughout the weekend, with universities hosting pop-up open days and targeting students on social media. |
| Since the removal of the cap on the number of undergraduates universities can recruit, there has been fierce competition to attract students. Some colleges have expanded, while others have seen their intake shrink dramatically. | Since the removal of the cap on the number of undergraduates universities can recruit, there has been fierce competition to attract students. Some colleges have expanded, while others have seen their intake shrink dramatically. |
| “It’s inevitable that one or two universities are going to go to the wall in the not too distant future,” said John McCarthy, executive director of marketing and external relations at the University of Salford. | “It’s inevitable that one or two universities are going to go to the wall in the not too distant future,” said John McCarthy, executive director of marketing and external relations at the University of Salford. |
| This year, the clearing frenzy is especially intense. Not only is the school-leaver population declining, but the looming prospect of Brexit has caused a dip in the number of EU students applying to British universities. On top of this, mature student numbers have continued to plummet, while vice-chancellors warn that visa arrangements are putting off international students. Changes to funding have also hit nursing courses, where there is an 8% drop in students getting places following the removal of bursaries. | This year, the clearing frenzy is especially intense. Not only is the school-leaver population declining, but the looming prospect of Brexit has caused a dip in the number of EU students applying to British universities. On top of this, mature student numbers have continued to plummet, while vice-chancellors warn that visa arrangements are putting off international students. Changes to funding have also hit nursing courses, where there is an 8% drop in students getting places following the removal of bursaries. |
| Changes to A-level exams added a further layer of confusion, said Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education and employment research at the University of Buckingham. The new qualifications are solely assessed on end-of-year exams, rather than coursework and AS-levels halfway through. “Students were uncertain about how they were going to perform and I’d guess there’s a lot of variability between schools.” | Changes to A-level exams added a further layer of confusion, said Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education and employment research at the University of Buckingham. The new qualifications are solely assessed on end-of-year exams, rather than coursework and AS-levels halfway through. “Students were uncertain about how they were going to perform and I’d guess there’s a lot of variability between schools.” |
| Last week, the scramble to fill places moved more quickly than ever before. “The rush on the Thursday is increasingly a high-volume rush,” said Christina Edgar, head of student recruitment and admissions at Sheffield University, where calls were up 15%. In England, a record number of students were awarded a place through clearing on Thursday, despite a 13% drop in the number of people using the system this summer. Many Russell Group universities were offering places, including Liverpool University, which advertised spaces for its medical school. | Last week, the scramble to fill places moved more quickly than ever before. “The rush on the Thursday is increasingly a high-volume rush,” said Christina Edgar, head of student recruitment and admissions at Sheffield University, where calls were up 15%. In England, a record number of students were awarded a place through clearing on Thursday, despite a 13% drop in the number of people using the system this summer. Many Russell Group universities were offering places, including Liverpool University, which advertised spaces for its medical school. |
| Behind the scenes, universities were launching competitive online marketing campaigns, said McCarthy. “We can be very highly targeted in terms of the students we want to attract using Google, Facebook, Instagram and similar platforms – we can geotarget people,” he said. Universities were bidding against each other, in real time, to appear higher than one another in Google searches. | Behind the scenes, universities were launching competitive online marketing campaigns, said McCarthy. “We can be very highly targeted in terms of the students we want to attract using Google, Facebook, Instagram and similar platforms – we can geotarget people,” he said. Universities were bidding against each other, in real time, to appear higher than one another in Google searches. |
| It was not just competition from rivals that universities were facing: it was also changing student attitudes, said McCarthy. “We’re starting to see the economy picking up a little bit and students saying: why should I go to university and pick up £40k debt?” | It was not just competition from rivals that universities were facing: it was also changing student attitudes, said McCarthy. “We’re starting to see the economy picking up a little bit and students saying: why should I go to university and pick up £40k debt?” |
| At London South Bank University, Jopser Toro, 20, was one of the prospective students looking around. He worked for two years before looking at universities because he wanted to be sure he was making the right decision. “I started working because I wanted to see what it was like… [Some people] go to university not because they want to go, but because they think it’s the right thing to do.” Friends who had gone in the past sometimes had ended up switching courses or not benefiting from their degree, he added. Toro also wants to live at home, so that he can continue working while studying. | At London South Bank University, Jopser Toro, 20, was one of the prospective students looking around. He worked for two years before looking at universities because he wanted to be sure he was making the right decision. “I started working because I wanted to see what it was like… [Some people] go to university not because they want to go, but because they think it’s the right thing to do.” Friends who had gone in the past sometimes had ended up switching courses or not benefiting from their degree, he added. Toro also wants to live at home, so that he can continue working while studying. |
| Sophie Galustian, a drama and performance student who was helping take clearing calls at the campus, said financial pressures had changed students’ attitudes towards university. “The whole idea of it being that expensive is off-putting for people our age,” she said. | Sophie Galustian, a drama and performance student who was helping take clearing calls at the campus, said financial pressures had changed students’ attitudes towards university. “The whole idea of it being that expensive is off-putting for people our age,” she said. |
| “We may be about to see a declining interest in going to university and that will lead to the system having to adapt,” added Smithers. “How it does that I don’t know. Some institutions will have to reconsider their mission.” | “We may be about to see a declining interest in going to university and that will lead to the system having to adapt,” added Smithers. “How it does that I don’t know. Some institutions will have to reconsider their mission.” |
| Higher education | |
| The Observer | |
| Clearing | |
| University funding | |
| Students | |
| news | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |