Elite Universities may turn away UK students

According to a piece by journalist Anna Fazackerley in this weekend’s Observer, elite universities will have no choice but to turn away increasing numbers of UK students in favour of international applicants.

Fazackerley speculates, “with the number of 18-year-olds in the UK continuing to rise each year, leading universities say they won’t be able to meet the extra demand for places from British sixth-formers unless the government steps in”.

The reason is down to fees limited in 2017 at £9,250 for UK students, which universities insist does not cover the cost of an average year’s tuition. They add that recruiting internationally offers a lucrative way to redress the shortfalls brought by lower UK student fees.

The newspaper cites Professor Colin Riordan, vice-chancellor of Cardiff university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group, as saying: “At a time of demographic growth among home students, it is inevitable that it will be more difficult to provide enough places. But it won’t be because we can’t fit them in – it will be because we can’t afford them.”

Recognising that the subject of raising fees is “toxic” to the UK government but aware that unchanged policies are going to keep home students from places in British education, Professor Riordan is urging the government to step in

“There is no foreseeable future at the moment except the unit of resource continuing to shrink and things getting tighter and tighter,” he said. “We can see a cliff edge ahead of us and we are just going towards it.”

It was reported that a spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “We are keeping maximum tuition fees frozen to deliver better value for students and keep the cost of higher education under control.”