With fewer university places available, are colleges ready for the increasing deluge in applications?
With A-level results just days away, college staff are gearing up for the clearing process. As well as helping students who have missed their grades to find university places, many will also be recruiting for their own higher education courses. But with a predicted shortage of university places this year, colleges may find themselves inundated with applications.
Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) show that interest in higher education courses has risen by 11.8% this year. More than 170,000 could miss out on a degree-course place; last year the figure was 130,000. The Association of Colleges (AOC) says it expects a "record number of applications, with demand likely to outstrip supply" for higher education courses. As a result, many colleges are having to up their game.
Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College has taken on extra staff for its clearing hotline, which opens on Thursday. Cornwall College has followed suit and asked academic staff to attend on results day to help make decisions about which students should be offered places.
Higher education is now big business in the FE sector. Of the 353 colleges in England, 270 offer HE courses, representing some 178,000 (about 10%) of all HE students. HE courses delivered at colleges are usually funded through franchises and partnerships with universities, and on average cost £2,000 a year, compared with £3,225 for those at universities.
Many colleges offer two-year foundation degrees (FdA), which combine academic study with skills needed for the workplace, and can be "topped up" to a full degree with a third year of study at a university. An increasing number of colleges deliver a "top-up" year themselves.
Smaller classes and a more hands-on approach from tutors, who don't have to juggle the competing demands of teaching and research, is another bonus, says Paula Whittle, principal of Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College. Highlighting the expertise of colleges in vocational learning, she says: "Students on our foundation degree in hospitality management get teaching and work placements from top-class chefs and in the best restaurants and hotels, which they wouldn't necessarily get in a university environment."
Colleges may have the expertise, but not necessarily the capacity, to meet the needs of students who miss out on a university place this summer. Tessa Counsell, head of higher education at Cornwall College, which has 2,000 full-time HE places, says its popular courses in the marine sciences, zoology and conservation are virtually full, although there are vacancies in, among others, IT, computing, e-business and arts programmes. Counsell cautiously says that "the situation is changing on a daily basis". It is a similar story at New College Durham, says its principal, John Widdowson.
The AOC's chief executive, Martin Doel, says that, while keen to recruit students, colleges are "subject to the same restrictions" as universities. "Strict controls on student numbers," says Counsell, means colleges will have to monitor recruitment for HE on "almost a minute-by-minute basis". While in the past universities and colleges could recruit up to 5% above or below the government's target figure, new guidelines from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) means institutions could face fines of £3,700 per additional student they recruit, and be docked that amount for every student below their target. With some still smarting from fines incurred last year, it is a lose-lose situation for HE providers.
The coalition government's decision to reduce the number of additional higher education places to 10,000 (Labour had promised 20,000 to meet increased demand) was a big blow for providers. And foundation degrees and specialist degrees – the mainstay of many colleges' HE provision – are likely to be hit hard by government cuts. Some universities say they may be forced to cut back on projects aimed at widening participation in HE, such as partnerships with colleges.
Experts say institutions could start the academic year with unfilled places. Professor Michael Brown, vice-chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, has warned that universities will only accept students holding firm offers, which could lead to empty chairs in lectures and seminars across the country.
What colleges have in good supply is part-time HE places. But under current funding arrangements, part-time learners (about 39% of the student population) are not eligible for grants and loans. They have to pay tuition fees upfront (full-time students do not pay anything until completion of their degree), putting higher education out of reach for many.
Widdowson highlights this year's surge in Ucas applications from the over-40s, up by 23%. "We're not just talking about school-leavers here. In the current economic climate, we're also talking about people who may have been made redundant and are looking for a change of direction. Colleges would be well placed to meet their needs, but we can only work with the number of places we're allocated."
The AOC has said that prospective students need to carefully examine all the options open to them, including apprenticeships, a point made earlier this month by Ucas chief Mary Curnock Cook. But as Widdowson points out, apprenticeship opportunities are not easy to come by, particularly for entry beyond level 3 (equivalent to A-levels) and many apprenticeship vacancies will already be filled for a September start.
NUS president Aaron Porter acknowledges the increasingly significant role colleges play in HE, but says it is vital not to lose sight of the wider issues. "By cutting funding, the government has denied hundreds of thousands of students access to the learning and skills that they, and the country, need to aid economic recovery."
For UCU general secretary Sally Hunt, the decision to limit student places will come back to haunt the country. "The big issue this summer is going to be the sheer number of students unable to get on a higher education course. We anticipate colleges that offer HE courses will see much greater demand this year; however, they will not be able to provide the places needed for the missing thousands."