University staffs set for battle over extra students

UNIVERSITIES across Yorkshire expect to have some spare places once A-level results are announced – but they are also confident they can fill their courses despite fewer applications and more expensive tuition fees being charged.

Eight of nine universities in Yorkshire look set to have places available through the Ucas clearing system tomorrow.

Leeds University does not formally enter clearing but expects to have places available on its website for “high quality applicants” tomorrow morning.

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Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds Metropolitan, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, York and York St John will all go into the clearing process which matches course vacancies with students who do not have firm offers from any universities.

Sheffield Hallam will also publish details of the courses with places available on its own website tonight – before the A-level results are revealed.

A few hundred places are said to be available in art and design, architecture and the built environment and subjects such as English, history and psychology.

Huddersfield University expects to have about 250 places available once results are announced.

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Clearing could also be used this year by students who have done better than expected.

Universities can recruit unlimited numbers of students who achieve two A grades and a B or better at A-level – meaning they could create extra spaces if they have demand from candidates with these grades.

A Leeds Met spokesman said all its courses would be open through clearing to AAB students and a broad range of courses and subject areas would be on offer for other students. But he added: “We cannot be specific and give numbers until we have looked at the spectrum of student results.”

Bradford University expects to have limited numbers available through clearing but may be able to provide extra places for AAB students.

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A Sheffield University spokeswoman said it had not finalised its strategy but was likely to have some places available for “high-quality applicants” on a range of courses.

Several universities have seen far fewer applications this year as fees of as much as £9,000-a-year are introduced.

The latest figures from Ucas – released last month – showed Hull University’s applications had decreased by 18 per cent, while Sheffield Hallam was down 17.5 per cent and Leeds Metropolitan’s were 15.9 per cent fewer than last year.

Despite these figures, universities say they are still oversubscribed. They will also have fewer places available this year because of a shake up of the higher education system that has seen the cap on the numbers they are allowed to recruit lowered.

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This does not include AAB students who can be recruited outside the cap giving those universities that can attract the best candidates the chance to recover their numbers.

A Leeds Metropolitan University spokesman said: “Applications are down however we are still receiving six applications for each place. We are confident that we will be able to fill our places and have planned to offer a number in late summer recruitment.”

A Sheffield Hallam University spokesman said: “It’s important to note that despite the drop, we have still had more than five applications for every place available at Sheffield Hallam, as we did in 2010.

We’re confident that the clearing process will give us the opportunity to find good students who want to come and study here, enabling us to fill the remaining few hundred places we have available.”

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Hull is understood to have had about four applicants for each place, although it still expects to have 500 clearing places available.

A spokeswoman said: “Most subject areas will have some clearing vacancies, although not in medicine, midwifery or most nursing branches.”

York and York St John Universities both expect to have some spaces available through clearing. York St John has had the largest increase in applications of any university in the country according to last month’s Ucas figures – 11.3 per cent more than 2011 despite the higher fees.

Research published yesterday 
by Oxford University shows students are increasingly choosy about universities because of concerns about the debt they will incur.

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The study – which surveyed more than 700 sixth-formers – revealed that just under a quarter expect to graduate with debts of more than £40,000.

Those who are the first in their families to go to university are more likely to have thought about the debt they would incur than those who have seen others in their families go on to higher education, the study says.