19 August 2010
People thinking of embarking on a university or college degree should be receiving better advice to help them make the right choice, according to universities.
As thousands of young people receive their A and AS-level results today, Universities UK is calling for an improvement in the advice they receive on where and how they might best pursue their education.
Universities UK chief executive Nicola Dandridge said: ‘With such pressure on places, it's vital that potential applicants receive high-quality, targeted information, advice and guidance on applying to university.
‘Good advice enables potential applicants to decide whether higher education is right for them, and which subject, course and institution is most suitable for them to succeed. If advice is poor, applicants might end up applying to the wrong courses and, ultimately, not getting a place at university.’
Dandridge added that more information was needed about the thousands of people who apply to university each year but do not get places. ‘We must find out more about whether these applicants had the right grades, whether they turned down offers, where they were applying from, and so on.’
The pressure on university places
is being highlighted today by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. The
union says the government risks letting down a generation of young people.
Nansi Ellis, ATL’s head of education policy, said: ‘Despite making the right noises about the importance of education and social mobility, [the government] has halved the number of extra university places and scrapped the Future Jobs Fund. This would be bad enough when the economy is booming and there are plenty of jobs, but potentially catastrophic when we are in a recession.
Ellis said the government needed to do everything possible to ensure every aspiring student has the opportunity of a place in education. ‘If it does not, this government will go down in history as having failed young people.’
