Can British students afford to wait for a place at a British university if they miss out during clearing this year?

As universities announce that there will be very few, if any, places available during clearing this year, British students are advised to look abroad to continue their education. Many universities in Europe have places available this autumn and, farther afield, Australian and New Zealand universities welcome applications from British students in time for the 2011 academic year.

In recent years, studying overseas has become well established in subjects such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine. In 2010 there has also been an increase in students looking abroad as a way of differentiating themselves from their peers and gaining experience vital to a successful career. The increased presence of EU students at British universities is a visible reminder that the graduate job market is highly international.

When government advice amounts to deferring entry or starting up a business, it is clear that there is no strategy to actively assist school leavers who miss out on a place at university this year. We advise any student who wishes to get on with their education without interruption to look at options abroad. These may often work out cheaper than studying in England even before a further rise in the cost of university education. In the long term, studying abroad could be the smartest way to avoid the imposition of a graduate tax but it will definitely be excellent preparation for an international career.

Clearing can be a frustrating process for students and teachers alike. When looking for the right move, the answer could simultaneously be further away and closer at hand.

10,000 Fewer Places at University This Year

Today it was announced that only half of the additional places at universities expected in October 2010 will materialise. The new government has announced that it will be cutting £118m that Labour had made available to fund these extra students.

It was already clear that student demand far outstrips the places available for new undergraduates; now it seems that even more students will be disappointed in their search for a suitable university in 2010 and beyond.

As this topic continues to make headlines we anticipate that demand for international higher education will grow significantly.

Launch of 2010 Attitudes to International Education Survey

Today sees the launch of the 2010 Attitudes to International Education Survey. You can take part in the survey here.

This is the third year that the survey has run and we use it primarily to gauge the effectiveness of communicating information about international higher education to future undergraduate students.

If you would like to learn more about the survey please feel free to get in touch.

Tomorrow the Election, Next Week the Tuition Fee Debate

One subject has been studiously ignored by politicians in the UK general election: what will happen to tuition fees over the lifetime of the next parliament and beyond. While many individual MPs and candidates have signed pledges indicating that they will not support an increase in fees from the current £3,000 plus inflation this is unlikely to have any impact on reality.

Without an alternative plan for funding the expansion of higher education it is almost certain that the cap on fees will be first raised and then removed. Otherwise we are likely to see more universities experiencing financial difficulties. The University of Cumbria has already applied for emergency funding from HEFCE and has had to reduce the facilities it offers students; while the circumstances of this situation are unique to Cumbria it is likely that other universities will face similar shortfalls.

One proposal put forward by Lord Browne,who chairs the cross party review, is that fees will be allowed to rise by £1,000 per annum until they reflect the cost of the relevant course. In this scenario we could end up with different level of fees to reflect the relative cost of teaching arts or sciences, for example. This would see British universities adopting the Australian finanical model.

This approach differs from lifting the upper limit to between £5,000 and £7,000 which had previously been thought the most likely outcome.

Uncertainty about tuition fees is likely to remain for some time. With all political parties having no immediate plans to reduce fees (any Lib Dem plan to phase out fees will take some time to introduce even in the event of their making substantial gains in tomorrow's election) the only certainty is that they will rise. The bigger issue in terms of access to higher education will be any change to the interest rate payable on student loans; this, too, it seems is likely to rise in the near future meaning that the overall cost of education will be even harder to judge.

What does this mean for international universities? Universities in Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Canada and the USA will increasingly be seen as viable alternatives for those students who can finance their entire higher education from their own or their family's resources.

For European universities, we expect a continuing increase in interest not just to state universities but also to private universities. This trend is currently being driven by the shortage of places at British universities and many careers advisors in schools are actively looking to find places abroad for this year's school leavers. One of the unintended consequences of EU membership is that British students can find far more generous higher education opportunities in other countries. In that context perhaps the most important development in the last weeks has been the European Court of Justice's decision to allow some European countries to restrict the number of students coming from other EU member states.

Degree Exodus?

Well, that is perhaps stretching a point but an article in yesterday's Sunday Times(scroll to bottom for relevant section) shows that European universities are seeing an increase in applications from British students.

Universities in Ireland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway are probably the most likely beneficiaries but English-language education in other countries such as France, Spain and Italy could also see an increase in applications.

I would suggest that the increase in interest is motivated primarily by the shortage of places available at English universities because the "study now, pay later" financial model that tuition fees and student loans facilitate means that very few students are confronted with the financial reality of studying in this country; failing to find a place is a very different matter. As indicated in our previous post, when the only careers advice available is to defer university entry, students will start to look elsewhere for support.

We have now reached the Easter holidays but in the last two months I have spent almost every day in schools throughout England. Some of these schools have mentioned that their students are all placed (subject to grades) this year. However, there are an increasing number of schools who are worried about their Year 13 students and we are finding a greater willingness to consider international education.

Is this the best careers advice we can give British students?

On Wednesday this week Mary Curnock Cook, the Chief Executive of UCAS confirmed that as many as 50,000 students with good A’ level grades will miss out on places at UK universities this year. This is the first acknowledgement that it is the “better” students who are likely to be unsuccessful in their application or disappointed in the type of university that will accept them.

The only advice offered by UCAS is to defer entry for at least one year before reapplying, or think about going to university later in life. Aside from the fact that the UK job market makes it almost impossible to enter many professions without a degree, does asking students to wait until universities are ‘ready’ for them qualify as sensible careers advice?

While this will undoubtedly prove a boon to the GAP year industry it is unlikely to assist students who are increasingly conscious of the financial impact of higher education or the difficulty of finding employment as a young person in today’s economy.

For many students there is another option: going to university abroad. Many high quality universities around the world are ready and able to accept applications from British students. While there is still likely to be a high level of competition for places at the best international universities, many students will find that they are able to get on with their life plans without an unintended and unwished-for hiatus.

British universities are not the only route open to British students. There are plenty of alternatives in countries as nearby as France, Ireland and the Netherlands or further afield in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

A Star Future has been advising schools and students about such opportunities since 2006 and we anticipate a busy few months.

Return of the Top Universities Fair

I will be visiting the Top Universities Fair in London on Friday 12th March to visit Universita Bocconi and University of Newcastle who are sending over representatives for the event. It is at Earls Court this year which means we are unlikely to see a repeat of the long waiting times when the fair was at the Science Museum last year. While at least half of the exhibitors are actually UK universities there is a fair representation of international universities so it promises to be worth a look.

As I have posted earlier on this blog, A Star Future remain unconvinced by the value of such events for promoting international education. However, as international education becomes a more attractive option for many British students this will change at some point.

If you are going to the fair and would like to meet up either send me an email or tweet me at astarfuture.