In
the past few years, the number of poor and rich students applying for a
university programme has reduced significantly with more and more underprivileged
teens planning to enrol than ever before.
More “Poor” Students Applying To
University
Recent
data published by UCAS reveals that the application rates of students in the
age of 18, who reside in poor communities in the 4 nations of the UK, has risen
to the highest recorded levels. However, although the gap between wealthy aspiring
students and their less affluent peers is narrowing, the rich kids still are
twice as more likely to enrol. The gap between male and female learners
aspiring to pursue a degree is increasing as well. Overall around 100,000 more female
students have applied to study a university programme than men this year. It
has been observed that now 36 per cent of young women are more likely to apply
than their male counterparts.
Mary
Curnock Cook, chief of UCAS, had earlier notified that a “disquieting” gap exists
between women and men applying for university. This has been increasing since
the early 1990s and further worsened. The recent figures show that the numbers
of individuals in the United Kingdom and other countries who submitted their
applications by the closing date of 15th January 2015.
Growing Demand For University Degree
In
general, a 2 per cent increase in applications was observed, as compared to the
previous year with more than 592,290 students applying. A 1 per cent increase
was seen among the applicants from UK, according to UCAS. Moreover in England, the
number of students applying for university also rose by 1 per cent. Cook of UCAS
believes that the growing demand for university seats will keep on increasing.
However, she thinks that the rate of growth has somewhat reduced this year. She
said “Demand for UK higher education, notably from younger people and from EU
countries, has continued to rise in 2015. It is heartening to see the gap
between rich and poor continue to narrow. Nevertheless, demand has grown more
slowly this year and has fallen for mature students. This perhaps reflects
improved employment prospects in the UK.”
An
analysis of the data reveals that almost 21 per cent of disadvantaged students in
England, who are 18 years old, applied for university in 2015, with 3 per cent
in this group more likely to apply than last year. UCAS commented “Differences
in application rates between advantaged and disadvantaged areas have reduced
over the past decade, reduced further in 2015 and were at the lowest level
recorded.”
Narrowing The Gap
The
fact is now the wealthiest 18 year old students in the United Kingdom are 2.4
times higher probability of aspiring to attend university than the most underprivileged
ones. Back in 2006, these students were 3.7 times more likely to send an application.
Chairman of Social Mobility Charity at the Sutton Trust, Sir Peter Lampl, said
“The continuing growth in disadvantaged applicants is welcome, and will narrow
the access gap. Nevertheless, there is still a significant gap, particularly to
the most selective universities, and a worrying dip this year in mature
applicants.”
He added “There were many who said the reform of
student finance would discourage young people from going to university. The
opposite has occurred; numbers have grown, in particular those from
disadvantaged backgrounds. Our reforms now also mean universities are well
funded for the future. At the same time, we have expanded vocational training,
particularly apprenticeships, which have reached two million. This is a record
to be celebrated.”
