University Entry: Qualifications Vs Desire?

The UK’s leading higher education journal, the THE, recently cited a study compiled by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), reporting a surge in demand for university places in England (issue date 3.2.2011). This surge, they claim, derives significantly from an increase in applications from prospective students lacking the typical UK university entry qualifications, namely A-levels. The pass grades of these A-levels are typically used to ascertain the level of ‘tariff points’ held by prospective students, with the most selective universities typically requiring the highest tariff point totals for entry onto their programmes of study. Yet, according to the report, between 2008-2010, prospective students with no tariff points ‘accounted for nearly half the rise in applications through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service’ (p.7). This meant that, in England, over 200 000 UCAS applicants in 2010 did not have the usual entry qualifications, with some 126 000 of these securing places and more than one third of these gaining entry into universities (p.7).

The HEPI report seems to indicate a high degree of ‘latent demand’, which suggests that imbalances between the demand for university places and the total number of places available are likely to persist for perhaps a considerable time. Consequently, it is suggested that high numbers of prospective students will continue to miss out on places at UK universities, irrespective of their potential to enter higher education. It is thought that this figure could indeed rise to over 100 000 by 2020, up from the 62 000 seen in 2010 (p.7). HEPI’s director commented that these findings are ‘remarkable’, and added that it is reasonable to surmise that many of the prospective students lacking the traditional entry qualifications are ‘able people who left school with few qualifications and are seeking to improve their life chances’ (p.7).

The implications of these findings of course go far beyond the simple arithmetic of supply and demand, raising many issues that are perhaps likely to become increasingly acute in years to come. For example if, as has been suggested, the UK government’s continued drive to rein in public expenditure results in supply side pressures relating to university places, will this mean that those applicants holding typical university entry qualifications will be privileged by universities who are perhaps seeking to enhance indicators such as their league table positions? Any such development would have potentially serious ramifications for the government’s professed commitment to social justice and social mobility.

Arguably just as significant for both universities and their students will be the context in which these developments take place. Higher education in England is about to see university tuition fees rise to a maximum of £9000 per year from 2012, with many institutions planning to set their fees at this limit. Research on students’ experiences, including my own, suggests that so-called ‘non-traditional’ students often have needs in areas such as educational support and reassurance, especially in the early stages of their programme of study, that may be greater and distinct in certain respects to those of many more ‘traditional’ students. The provision or lack of such support may be one factor in the perhaps greater prevalence of ‘non-traditional’ students to drop out of their course of study before completion. It may therefore be the case that the financial implications for certain universities, as well as many of their increasingly debt-laden students, will turn increasingly on universities’ ability to meet more effectively these challenges.