News
Tuition fee hike puts off students
The dramatic hike in university tuition fees to £9,000 a year for students starting degrees this year has been blamed for a steep fall in applications for construction degrees, writes Chloe Stothart. The number of applications for
undergraduate degrees in building-related subjects starting this autumn dropped by 21.5% to 10,323 compared to last year, according to university applications service UCAS. This compares to a more modest overall
drop across all subject areas of 7.7%, and a 16.3% drop when construction courses are aggregated with architecture, landscape design and planning degrees. UCAS does not yet have figures for the number of students accepted on courses as people are still able to apply through the clearing process. Universities said the rise in fees,
the government’s tightening of visa requirements for overseas students and would-be students’ concerns about their job prospects in the recession-hit industry had discouraged people from applying. David Baldry, deputy head of the school
of the built environment at Salford University, said applications for undergraduate courses had fallen by about 20% compared to last year, blaming the “double whammy” of increased fees and the lower public profile of the construction industry caused by the
recession for the steep drop. Baldry also pointed to a sharp scaling back on employer-sponsored places over the last three to four years. Salford enrolled 30 sponsored students in 2007, but only 12 in 2008. However, he said the number of
applications for postgraduate study remained similar to last year and the number of overseas students had held up reasonably well. But he said the university “could have done even better” in attracting students from abroad had the government not tightened visa requirements. Nick Morton, head of the Birmingham School of the Built Environment at Birmingham City University, said the fall in applications at his institution was in line with that at other universities, but declined to give a figure as recruitment was ongoing. He said: ”It reflects the
depressed economic situation nationally. But I think it is contingent upon us all to push the ultimate value of such a career because the upturn will come. People are mindful of the fee structure coming in
“ I think it is contingent upon us all to push the ultimate value of such a career because the upturn will come.”
Nick Morton, Birmingham City University
and are looking at their career afterwards and maybe taking a short-term view of their career. We know our sector is cyclical and there will be an upturn.” He said tighter visa rules for overseas
students “had not helped either” and applications from foreign students were also down. Ros Thorpe, CIOB’s head of education, said she thought future graduates might be deterred from going on to postgraduate study by the extra debt they had incurred during their first degree because of the rise in fees.
Empty desks: applications for construction degrees are disappointing Four University Technical Colleges to specialise in construction...
Industry, parents and potential students will be consulted this month over plans for one of four University Technical Colleges set to specialise in construction, its lead sponsor said this week. Nigel Donohue, head
of business development services at CITB- Construction Skills, said the plan was to create a “construction and enterprise learning zone for the West Midlands
that would inspire young people to get involved in the industry”. Other sponsors are the University of Wolverhampton and Walsall College, with Wilmott Dixon, Balfour Beattie, Morgan Sindall and Lovell, Hewden Stewart and Barhale Construction as industry partners. “The West Midlands
UTC will transform opportunities for 14-19-year-olds in the region to undertake full-
4 | SEPTEMBER 2012 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
time, practical, vocational and technical studies in a wide range of specialist skills that will help prepare them for a career in the construction industry,” added Donohue. West Midlands UTC is
one of 33 that have been approved by the Department of Education, of which 15 are expected to open in 2013. UTCs aim to
provide technical
skills training, alongside mainstream qualifications, to 20,000 young people aged between 14 and 19. The intake age has been set at 14 as 11 is considered too early to choose a
subject path to follow, while 16 is too late. The other UTCs with a
construction focus are: Buckinghamshire (IT and Specialist Construction); Burnley (Construction and Engineering, including the nuclear industry); Greenwich (pictured left) (Construction and Engineering). In addition, Daventry will have a specialism in sustainable technologies.
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