University candidates face snub in record numbers

Figures from eight universities across the region show there are already likely to be five candidates vying for every available place once students receive their A-level results.

There have been more than 30,000 extra applications to courses at Yorkshire universities compared with 12 months ago.

The surge in student applications has emerged as vice chancellors discovered university budgets would be cut by 449m in the next financial year.

Universities will learn next month how much money they are to receive from the Higher Education Funding Council for 2010/11 but across Yorkshire higher education bosses say they will need to cut costs.

Last summer saw a desperate scramble for places after a record number of applications following A-level results day.

But university bosses in Yorkshire are warning the competition will be even more severe this summer. Nationally academics warn that as many as 250,000 will be denied a place in higher education.

Figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post show there have been 168,582 applications to the region's universities which are likely to be able offer around 32,000 places in September. This time last year there were around four applications for every available place in Yorkshire.

A cap on student numbers coupled with a national cut in teaching budgets of more than 200m means the higher education sector cannot accommodate the extra applications.

Huddersfield University's deputy vice chancellor Prof Peter Slee said: "We have seen a 23 per cent increase in applications. It is going to be a lot tighter this year and it is going to be a lot more challenging for students who don't meet the grades universities are asking for."

So far Sheffield Hallam has seen the biggest increase in applications in Yorkshire with 42,298 this year compared with 32,033 last year – a rise of 32 per cent. Last year it took on just over 8,000 students.

York St John University has also seen an surge, up 30 per cent from 5,967 last year to 7,731.

Leeds Metropolitan University has seen applications rise from 29,969 this time last year to 38,445 – an increase of 28 per cent. The figures show demand for places has not been affected by the university's decision to abandon its "low-charge high impact policy" on tuition fees which saw it charge 1,300 less per year than other English universities.

Leeds University was unable to provide figures on the number of applications it has received.

The university has been at the forefront of concerns over how cuts in funding will affect the higher education sector. It aims to save 35m from 2011 to cope with an expected shortfall and is in talks with ACES in an attempt to avert a strike by the University and College Union over the university's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies.

The union has now called on Leeds University to halt the exercise after accusing it of breaching its own rules over plans to restructure its faculty of Biological Sciences.

But a Leeds University spokesman said: "We believe UCU's appeal to be wholly misconceived and will be mounting a robust defence."