Education Today -Manchester University applications fall as fees rise to £9k a year

From- http://menmedia.co.uk

Applications for Manchester University have plummeted as school leavers reject £9,000 a year fees.

Early figures show the UK’s largest university has seen a drop of 16 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The plunge comes as universities prepare to treble their fees for courses beginning in September 2012.

University officials said they had so far received 6,968 applications from UK home students – a fall of 18pc on the same time last year. The number of overseas students has also dropped by 7pc to 1,619 – making the total reduction 16pc.

Although prospective students still have months to apply for a place, charities, lecturers’ groups and student unions believe the government decision to treble fees will discourage students from poorer backgrounds.

Admissions chiefs at Manchester University say they were prepared for the reduction, but hope the overall figures will pick up before the January deadline.

A spokesman said: "As with universities nationally, we expected applications to be down. However, there are still several months before applications close. We will get a fuller picture towards the end of the year."

Universities UK, which represents 110 institutions, says early applications figures are not always reliable.

But uni bosses admit that student numbers will dip for ‘two or three years’ as students and their families get used to the new funding structure.

Prospective students will not have to pay any money up front, and will re-pay their loans once they start earning £21,000 or more.

Figures from admission agency Ucas show that the number of applications from pupils in the north west shrank from 6,533 to 5,623 – a fall of 14pc.

Other local universities claimed they had not yet seen any drop in their applications – but Manchester traditionally sees higher numbers of early applications as its medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses have an earlier deadline.

Salford University claimed it was ‘too early’ to assess whether there had been any change in figures. Manchester Metropolitan University said they had not suffered any serious decline in student numbers.

A spokesman said the university had so far received 3,300 applications for undergraduate courses – which was in keeping with last year. Bolton University said applications were only slightly down on last year.

In response to the fees rise, most universities are offering new bursaries.

At Manchester University, students whose family income is less than £25,000 will be eligible to a £3,000 award in their first year and £2,500 afterwards.