Universities have appealed for funding for more undergraduate places after applications hit record highs for the fourth year running.

Many universities recorded overall increases in applications of more than 50 per cent.

Some of the most dramatic rises are explained by the introduction of an earlier application deadline for some art and design courses.  However, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service said there were also signs that the recession was prompting people to apply as they sought to retrain.

Two Scottish Universities, Edinburgh Napier University and Robert Gordon University have the biggest rises in applications compared with 2009 figures. 

Read the full article, published in the THE on the 11th February 2010. 

 

University applications from aspiring mature students in Scotland have more than doubled.However, many of them face rejection due to the reduced number of places available.

University admissions body UCAS says the number of people aged 25 and over applying this year soared by 108 per cent. The figures, showed a 58 per cent increase in applications from the 21-24 age group. Overall, the number of applications from Scots rose by 31 per cent this year, from 29,549 in 2009 to 38,763 this year.

Read the full article from the Scotsman that was published on the 9th February 2010

 

Graduates of Scottish universities should pay a dedicated tax throughout their working lives to help fund higher education, suggests Bernard King.   

Bernard King, is new convener of Universities Scotland, which represents university principals, said the tax would help maintain competitiveness in the face of tight public finances and any rise in top-up fees in England.  The call comes as Scottish universities are increasingly concerned about whether the existing level of public funding can be maintained in the current spending squeeze.

Read the full article from the Herald which was published on the 10th February 2010. 

 

THE number of foreign students granted visas is to be slashed in a crackdown on abuses of the system.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson is introducing tougher rules which include demands that applicants speak passable English and a ban on dependants joining those enrolling for short courses.

Read the full article that was published in the Scotsman on the 8th February 2010

 

Headline figures from UCAS show another record year for applicants to higher education - the fourth year running that full-time undergraduate applications have seen an increase.

As of 22 January 2010 there were 570,556 applicants, a rise of 106,389 or 22.9% over 2009. The UK saw an increase in applicants of 22.1%, while overseas applicants rose from 55,245 to 71,105 (up 28.7%). Ireland (50.4%), China (22.4%), Germany (23.7%) and Lithuania (102.3%) showed the most significant percentage increases.

Read the full UCAS Press Release published on 8th February 2010

 

THE number of people going to university has risen by nearly a quarter in Scotland over the past decade, according to new statistics.In 1999, there were 24,943 Scots who had been accepted on to a university place, compared to 31,030 last year.The figure for the whole of the UK represented a 44 per cent rise, according to the universities admissions body, UCAS.  

A report from the University of Virginia found boys learnt better when lessons were "high-activity" and presented ideas and concepts visually.

The study also called for greater competition in schools, saying boys responded positively to it.

Read the full BBC article

 

Studying  part-time in Scotland has become so popular that 40 per cent of students now take the option, according to leading universities in the field.The Open University (OU), which offers part-time degrees via distance learning, saw a 15 per cent increase in registrations this academic year.  

The recession has pushed up applications to study for university degrees by more than 12% in the past year, raising the prospect that 200,000 students could be left without places next autumn because of government caps on numbers.

 

INCREASING financial support for thousands of Scottish students has been ruled out by the government in a move slammed as "dangerously shortsighted".Mike Russell, the new Education Secretary, has confirmed that state-backed loans to students will remain at a level amounting to hundreds of pounds less than those available to their counterparts south of the Border.