Scots applicants to university fall 10% despite free tuition

Next year will be the first year Scottish universities will charge tuition fees for students from the rest of the UK, with some charging up to £9,000 a year.

The figure rises to a 12 per cent drop in applications from UK students once overseas applications are removed.

The figures released by universities admission body Ucas also show a fall of 15.4 per cent of students from Scotland applying to universities in England.

The number of students from England applying for a university place in Scotland is down by 4.5 per cent.

Last night education experts said the dip in applications from those living in Scotland to study north of the Border could reflect confusion over recent announcements on tuition fees, but may also indicate students were taking longer to consider their options before next year’s 15 January deadline for the majority of courses.

The figures follow the 15 October deadline for applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities and for medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses at all UK universities.

Ucas said the reduction in applicants was less than 1 per cent (0.8 per cent) for those courses where the official deadline has passed.

However, applications to medicine and dentistry courses were down 3.1 per cent compared with 2011.

Last year, there were 95,496 applicants for these courses, while there have been 92,545 for 2012. The number of applicants has fallen from 76,612 students at this stage for 2011 to 69,724 for 2012.

The number of non-EU applications to Scotland is up 18.3 per cent, while applications from other EU countries applications is up 3.1 per cent.

The figures show approximately 7,000 fewer students have applied at this stage compared with last year.

The biggest decline is among mature and female applicants, with applications from people over the age of 25 falling by more than a fifth.

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: “This set of applicant figures was always going to be volatile because of all the changes to fees north and south of the Border.

“However, it’s very early in the applications cycle and far too early to tell anything about student demand with any certainty.

“About the only thing that is clear from this data is that prospective students are choosing to weigh up their decisions more carefully and apply later in the cycle. That’s perfectly reasonable given all the changes and the fact that many Scottish universities only set out their fee intentions for students from the rest of the UK a few weeks ago.”

He added: “We would encourage students from the rest of the UK to look not just at Scottish fee levels but to make sure they find out about the new bursary and scholarship packages Scottish universities have made available to ensure that they are offering opportunities to students from all backgrounds.”

NUS Scotland president Robin Parker said that while it was still early in the application process the Scottish Government and principals at Scottish universities should step in to end uncertainty if the trend continued.

He said: “We have real concern that these figures show that the confusion and fear of fees created by Westminster’s damaging fees policy is having an impact on people in Scotland’s decisions, even though the Scottish Government has rightly decided to not introduce fees.

“We just hope that it’s more that people are putting off applying, rather than being put off from going to university.

“For students from the rest of the UK, it’s understandable if those potential applicants have held off before deciding whether they can afford to attend a Scottish university, as principals in Scotland have only just set their fees.

“However, unfortunately, many will find their options limited by decisions by Edinburgh and St Andrews universities to set £36,000 degrees for students from the rest of the UK.

“It is a great shame, and no real surprise, if £9,000 fees are shutting down the opportunities for Scots to study in England.”

Ken Macintosh, MSP, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, said: “These figures clearly show the effect that the introduction of huge increases in tuition fees is having.

“Coupled with the lack of clear information from the SNP government on wider access policies it is no wonder young people are reluctant to commit themselves to a university course.

“There is a real need for much more detailed information to be supplied to those thinking of going to university. Just saying there are no tuition fees in Scotland is not enough as there are all sorts of other costs associated with going away from home to study.

“The coalition also has to take their share of the blame. By lifting the cap on fees they closed off the opportunity for many young Scots to consider going to university in England.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Today’s release is the first in an annual cycle of information and is designed to measure applications only to a select number of courses and institutions. While applications to Scottish institutions and from Scottish pupils are broadly on a par with the rest of the UK, conclusions cannot be drawn from these figures. We await further publications with interest.”