Students sitting A Level Exams
There is almost a sense of déjà vu in the air as it is reported that universities all across England are full, and many students will be turned away. This comes after news of the government cutting university budgets across the board as the new administration has halved the 20,000 extra places Labour had planned to provide. One university vice-chancellor yesterday put the overall number of disappointed university hopefuls as likely to be as high as 200,000, or 20,000 above previous estimates.
Universities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Warwick have already said they have no places left on any of their courses. The London School of Economics and St Andrews said they will have to turn down students who narrowly missed the offers they received from other universities. Oxford and Cambridge, as with previous years, will have no places left either. This leaves little hope for students who have achieved good A levels but find themselves without the option of getting a good degree.
In previous years clearing has offered students hope as they can apply to spots on courses that have not been filled. However, it is looking increasingly likely that this year that there will be few places available. Admissions tutors predict that clearing places will vanish within two to three days of students receiving their A-level results. University leaders predict that as many as 170,000 students could find themselves left without a place on a degree course. This is a sharp rise in comparison to last year when the figure was 130,000.
Universities Minister, David Willetts has said that sixth formers who fail to secure a university place should start a business or apply for an apprenticeship instead. However, surely the decision should be up to the student themselves, they should not be pigeon holed into it by the government who have left them with no other alternative. He has said the Labour aim for 20,000 extra places was unrealistic and that there are even bigger cuts expected next year.
On top of this it has also been released that those doing their A levels in 2010 will be leaving university with record amounts of debt averaging at £24,700. The job market when they leave university will also be unsteady, but with not many places available the government is clearly hoping they can force young people into more vocational courses. With all these to consider it is no wonder that the poorest students are among the most likely to miss out, and this will no doubt put them off applying, increasing the wealth gap in the UK.
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