爲避學費上漲 英掀起入學申請潮

Almost 230,000 students face missing out on university this year as the rush to escape higher tuition fees generates record demand for places.

By Christmas, an unprecedented 344,000 candidates had completed university applications for the next academic year – more than ever before at such an early stage in the admissions process.

Students are desperate to secure university places in 2011 in order to beat a near tripling of course fees in 2012 that could lead to some being charged up to £9,000 a year.

According to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), demand among English students, who will be hit hardest by the rise in fees, is particularly high. Many students are believed to be abandoning their plans for a gap year to move straight into higher education. The rise in applications is also being stimulated by a sharp increase in the number of students who are reapplying after being rejected last year.

If the current trend continues, it will result in about 705,500 people applying for university this year – up from the record of 688,310 last year.

That will result in almost 226,500 applicants missing a place completely – about a third of those competing for the expected 479,000 vacancies.

The Coalition has already said that the number of university places available this September will be frozen at last year's levels, with institutions fined for over-recruiting.

Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union, said, "Rationing higher education, and making it more expensive, at a time when the rest of the world is investing in universities, will seriously risk our standing on the world stage."

Last month, MPs backed plans to increase the cap on tuition fees in England from £3,290 to £9,000 from 2012.

The National Union of Students warned that “many well-qualified applicants look set to have the door slammed in their faces again”.

“The imposition of an arbitrary limit on the number of students will halt the aspiration of well-qualified students of all ages and restrict access to high-level skills at a time of growing unemployment, and when it is essential to invest in economic recovery,” said Aaron Porter, the NUS president.

爲躲過學費上漲，英國近期掀起一股入學申請潮，申請人數創下紀錄，但近23萬學生今年將與大學無緣。

截至去年聖誕節，已有34.4萬申請人遞交了下一學年的入學申請。目前還處於入學申請的初期，這一數字可謂史無前例。

英國學生拼力爭搶2011年的入學資格，以躲過2012年學費漲至目前三倍的窘況。按照這一漲幅，部分學生每年的學費將漲至9000英鎊。

據英國大專院校招生委員會（Ucas）統計，受學費上漲打擊最大的英國學生的入學需求非常大。據稱，很多學生放棄了“空檔年”的計劃，而直接進入高等學府。去年申請被拒、今年再度遞交入學申請的學生大幅增加，這也導致了入學申請者的激增。

按照目前的趨勢，今年將有70.55萬人遞交入學申請，比去年破紀錄的68.831萬人還要多。

這將導致近22.65萬申請者遭拒，約佔申請總數的1/3。據預計今年將有47.9萬個入學名額。

英國聯合政府已表示，今年9月份的招生名額將維持在去年水平，超額招生的學校將受罰。

英國高校聯合會祕書長薩利•亨特說：“在世界其他國家都在加大高校投資時，我們卻在限制入學名額和提高學費，這將嚴重威脅我們在全球的地位。”

上個月，英國議會批准了一項學費上漲計劃。從2012年起，英格蘭的大學學費上限將從每學年3290英鎊提高至9000英鎊。

英國學生聯合會提醒稱，“很多優秀的申請者看來又要被拒之門外了。”

英國學生聯合會主席亞倫•波特說：“現在失業率還在上升，把這種武斷的名額限制強加給人們會使所有優秀學生的大學夢破碎，而且他們也無法學習到高水平技能。而目前很有必要在經濟復甦上投資。”

Vocabulary:

gap year: a year's break taken by a student between leaving school and starting further education（空檔年，常指中學畢業後上大學前所休的一年假期，常用於實習或旅遊）

slam the door in someone's face: 把某人拒之門外