According to the research commissioned by the Sutton Trust educational charity, there is a possibility of dramatic reduction in the number of applicants to the universities in the coming years. The findings show that willing applicants from poorer backgrounds will have almost no chances to get higher education. Such predictions were made due to the claim made by David Willetts, that students should consider fees "more as an obligation to pay higher income tax" than as a debt. The poll found that such a big rise in tuition fees, which amounts to £7,000 a year, would be a burden on those from poor families and the number of applicants will drop to just 45%. The findings show that this year 200,000 qualified applicants will be denied a place at universities as 70% of colleges are planning to cut courses. As a protest against cutting the budget for higher and adult education which may leave thousands of teachers and lecturers joining the dole queue, students and staff from more than 70 colleges and universities will take part in an action organized by the United for Education coalition.
The survey carried out by Ipsos Mori showed that 68% of the questioned applicants are going to enter universities with fees risen up to £5,000, and only 15% if the fees rose to £10,000. The percentage of teenagers whose parents are unemployed and who are planning to get higher education is up to 55%. The Russell Group which is a representative of 20 leading research-intensive institutions including Oxford and Cambridge called on for hoisting the tuition fee cap gradually giving the institutions the possibility to get money for different courses. Almost 57% teenagers consider that the degree is the most important thing in higher education and the educational institution they choose makes no difference to it, the Sutton Trust report reveals.
According to Aaron Porter's custom essay, increasing the fees would have a dramatic impact on students graduating the universities and as a result it would influence the amount of teenagers willing to get higher education. Peter Lampl, the organization’s chairman, says that it is necessary to inform applicants and their parents on these fees and other details of higher education so that they could make right decisions. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills of the Sutton Trust report, considers that it is impossible to avoid all these public expenditure savings necessary for higher and further education but “the government is committed to protecting front-line services for students and learners."
