Applications to Universities are down by 2% accross the country as expected due to the introduction of tuition fees and the disappearance of grants. However, applications University of Newcastle are down a staggering 12%. You can't tell me that that is not linked to the scarcity of jobs in the region. People aren't prepared to go into debt somewhere you find it hard to get a job on leaving or part time work in the holidays to help support you. They're all off to study down South or not bothering at all.

They've lowered the standards required to get onto single-honours courses due to the falling interest as well, which is almost certainly a sign of people being reluctant to specialise in any branch of knowledge when they know it might lead to nothing in the end. Everyone's going to go for miserable modular courses to spread their areas of knowledge and we'll be worse off for it; Jacks of all trades and masters of none.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

Answers

As far as I know the Univetsity of Hull is over subscribed. Had been for the last 5 years.

The uni keep getting fined for taking on to many students.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

And speaking from experience, it's much harder to get a job with a joint honours degree than it is with a single. Having said that, how many people actually stay around their University town when they graduate. I can't think of any of my friends who did, but then again that was Stoke on Stench so it's hardly surprising

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

I did my degree at on Uni and I am doing my Ph.D. at another. Mind I am working at the uni as well.

And they pay for it ;o))))

Jay

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

hey kegsy,

are you/did you go to Staffs then? or was it the raf base up the road at keele?

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

The University sector is now suffering from the full repurcussions of one of Thatcher's last acts. In a desperate attempt to get people off the dole queue and under the banner of 'education for all' she forced the Universities to double their intake almost overnight.

No recognition of the fact that there couldn't possibly be twice as many suitable students overnight. The worst was turning the old Polys into full-time Universities; the whole point of the Poly was to fulfill the need for tertiary education for those who for whatever reason could not commit to a full-time 3/4 year degree course.

I used to teach on a networks course, and had kids coming into my classes who didn't even know what a logarithm was never mind how to use them; this was on a 4 year Computer Science degree!

We now have masses of students who simply aren't bright enough to attend these types of courses and a shortfall in appropriate tertiary education for those who are at different stage in life with different needs.

This is exacerbated by an attempt to make Universities commercially viable as places of education. There's nothing wrong at all with making research at Universities pay its own way, but letting accountants run taught tertiary education is madness.

Modularity allows Universities to cover more students with less staff, but leads to a drop in quality across the board, with less contact time between lecturers and students, and overstretched support resources.

If we're not careful, we'll end up with a system like that of the US where (sorry Ciara) a BSc is worth diddly.

It made my blood boil so much I left education even though I really enjoyed teaching.

Grrr.

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

I went to Staffs Poly and left Staffs Uni. Why? Did you go there? I diss Stoke, but I really enjoyed my three years (what I remember of it!)

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

Go to school in the States. Great opportunities, loads of loans & grants. Loadsa work, international education. I am in school full time and work 50 hours a week, but I wouldn't change a thing. Apart from being back home. Try it for four years see how you like it, what are people afraid of?

-- Anonymous, March 28, 2000

What's a logarithm?

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

Logarithm = Dancing tree (Latin American I think)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

The University of Newcastle has doubled in size in the last 10 years so perhaps it is not surprising that there has been a fall since. The numbers increased so much because people wanted to spend less cos of grants (so headed north).

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

And there was me thinking that the squeeze on HEFCE funding and the directive that you had to expand to retain your share of the available money was the driving factor behind that one. All the time it was just the nice University expanding to make room for the hard up ;-)

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

I don't really know much about that, Softie - but I do know that its not as simple as that. The reason the University expanded - amongst other things - was down to the sheer number of people applying for places there (who hadn't before). Not all universities have grown similarly, you know.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

I'm pulling your leg Beardo, the college I worked at in Kent quadrupled in size over 5 years and it was all brought about by te scramble for cash when the Polys gained the same status as Unis.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

Oh God I'm so ashamed. I've just put on the telly and found out that there's a degreeon David Beckham available from Staffordshire University. AAAArgh I want to return my degree. God, I bet Stan the man's spinning in his grave.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

"Polys gained the same status as Unis"

in who's eyes?

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

Intellectual Snobbery Geordie?? hahaha

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

Those of us who went to Poly's that became Universities. Unfortunately not in the eyes of employers.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000

In the eyes of the funding bodies, the only eyes that count for diddly. They are all competing for slices from the same pie now, and the Polys who didn't mind switching to nurse-training and evening courses for the scabby proletarian end of the market are now getting more money that the venerable Universities. So long as they are still able to bank on reputation to bring in foreign (paying through the nose) students and fat research grants, they can stay up, but the foreign students have cottoned onto the fact that all these degrees are now worth the same and the research companies are happy to go where the costs are lower. Tough little world. Canterbury Christ Church University College is rolling in money whilst University of Kent at Canterbury are steadily slipping down the pan; the reputation wasn't good enough.

-- Anonymous, March 29, 2000