Slump in university applicants after tuition fee hike (From News Shopper)

Slump in applicants to Goldsmith's University of London and University of Greenwich after tuition fee hike

2:11pm Wednesday 11th July 2012 in Lewisham By Sarah Trotter

THE NUMBER of students applying to the University of Greenwich has plummeted by more than 4,000 after tuition fees tripled last year.

Goldsmith’s, University of London, has also suffered a 20 percent loss in degree applications – which is twice the national average - figures released this week from university admissions group UCAS show.

The national slump in submissions for Autumn 2012 compared to last year comes after the government's decision for tuition fees to rise to £9k per year.

The total number of degrees applied for at Goldsmith’s this year was 9,200 compared to 11,650 last year – a drop of 21 percent.

A Goldsmith’s University of London spokesperson said: "Like others in the sector, we are finding that we have fewer speculative applications with students taking a more considered approach to selecting a course and institution.

"As a result, we have fewer applicants applying per place, though still around five per place. However, the quality and commitment of our applicants has remained buoyant and as a result we will probably only be able to offer between 100 and 150 places at clearing across around half of our academic departments.”

They added that the number of students accepting the university’s offers has increased and they have introduced financial support worth more than £1.8m for the 2012 intake.

The university’s financial incentives include 10 free places available for Lewisham students. For details visit gold.ac.uk/2012/funding/

The University of Greenwich saw a fall of 4,124 student applications from a total 35,511 last year which marks an 11.6 percent decrease.

A University of Greenwich spokesperson said: “We are pleased that applications to the University of Greenwich remain buoyant, following the unprecedented level of demand for places last year.

“Over 30,000 people have applied to Greenwich so far, an increase on 2010. We expect to receive more applications this summer and will continue to make offers to well-qualified applicants in subjects such as some areas of science, humanities and architecture and construction.”