Fee-risk universities in fight for talent

Four universities in the region: Bradford, Hull, Leeds Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam are expected to see a drop in student numbers of around 10 per cent compared with last year as a result of a major shake up of the system.

In the past each university has faced a cap on the number of students it can recruit each year.

From tomorrow, after A-level results are announced, universities and colleges can take on an unlimited number of top students who achieve at least two As and a B at A-level, but the numbers they can recruit below this standard has been cut.

The Government has also ringfenced 20,000 places for universities and colleges which can offer courses for less than £7,500 a year.

Every university in the country has had places taken away from its capped total to create these 20,000 “core and margin places”.

Universities can get their numbers back up by either attracting more AAB students, which are not included in the cap, or by having lower fees.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England has predicted four Yorkshire universities will see a drop of around ten per cent.

A Sheffield Hallam spokesman said: “While we mitigate some of this reduction by increasing the number of students with AAB grades we have planned our financial forecasts around an anticipated reduction in student numbers.”