14 April 2010

million+ challenges UCAS decision to withhold university application figures

The university think-tank million+ has challenged a decision by UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, not to publish the latest statistics outlining the number of applications from students hoping to start university in September. UCAS has stated it is not going to publish these figures as normal because of the pre-election period. This is despite these statistics allowing detailed comparisons to be made to the number of applications in previous years and providing a key indicator as to whether the number of funded places is likely to match demand from students in 2010.

Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive of the university think-tank million+, said: “The decision to withhold the UCAS figures is not in the interests of students or voters. It is more and not less important in the pre-election period for people to know whether there will be sufficient funded places at university in 2010. While UCAS has said that there is a 16.5 % overall increase, compared to the same time last year, no further figures will be released until 1 July. This is not good enough. Students have a right to know what is happening and politicians on the campaign trail should be asked what more they will do to ensure that all those who are qualified get a place at university in September. As always the biggest risk, if there are not enough places, is to applicants from widening participation backgrounds who may not get the highest grades but who stand to benefit most from studying at university.

“We now have three different commitments from the three major parties: Labour which has provided funds for 20,000 additional places but largely restricted these places to science, technology and engineering subjects, the Conservatives who would fund 10,000 additional places through an early repayment discount loan scheme and the Liberal Democrats who want to fund 15,000 new places but restrict these to Foundation Degrees. Voters need to know now which of these commitments is likely to stack up and whether, even with these commitments, there will still be a shortfall in funded places. The UCAS figures are a vital part of the jigsaw and they should not be withheld’.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1. million+ is a leading university think-tank, working to solve the complex problems in higher education www.millionplus.ac.uk

2. For more information, comment or interviews from million+ please contact Victoria Mills on 020 7717 1659 or 07900 277819