Around 230,000 applicants could miss out on a university place
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Hundreds of thousands of would-be students will be denied a place at university because of spending cuts
By Simret Samra
Universities’ funding body, Hefce, will later outline how spending on teaching, research and capital will be allocated in England in the next academic year.
From 2010-11, cuts of £135m have been added to “efficiency savings” of £180m – with a further £600m to follow.
Professor Steve Smith, president of vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, said the cuts would impact on the quality of teaching, as managers prepared to cut teaching budgets for the first time since Labour.
He added that the cuts would increase competition for places.
“Last year about 160,000 students who applied didn’t end up going to university. This year, we already know that there are about another 75,000 applying for higher education. This means 230,000 could miss out,” he added.
Last month, leaders of the top universities said the programme of cuts could cause a “meltdown” in their sector.
The Russell Group of leading research universities warned that a succession of cuts could lead to universities and courses closing and much higher student ratios, damaging “gold standard” universities beyond repair.
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