By Martin Walker
Phil Wilson says the Government’s decision to increase tuition fees is to blame for a drop in university applications in the North-East.
According to UCAS, 16,887 people living in the North- East have applied to attend university this September, compared to 19,026 at the same time last year – a drop of 11%.
It compares to a national average fall of 8.7%, with only the South-West having a bigger drop.
And Mr Wilson, MP for Sedgefield, says the figures are not surprising.
He told Aycliffe Today: “After the Government’s decision to put up tuition fees to £9000 it is no surprise young people are thinking twice before applying to go to university.
“At a time when the only growth is in austerity we need to be very careful that the nation does not squander the youth of our country who have the talent to get on and create the wealth of the future.”
Tuition fees for English universities are due to triple to a maximum of £9,000 this autumn.
However, the new figures show applications at Durham University increased by 6.6%.
Teesside University saw its applications fall by 1%, while applications to Sunderland dropped 15.9%.
Despite the decrease, Teesside University vice chancellor Professor Graham Henderson said he was “hugely encouraged” by the figures.
UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook suggested that population changes could be a factor in the fall, and said the drop in demand was larger among wealthier students than poorer ones.
And some university leaders said the dip had been far less dramatic than had been predicted.
Tom Blenkinsop, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said the decrease in applications had been predictable following the increase in fees.
“It’s having a double effect in the North-East – first of all universities which aren’t Russell Group are being hit, and secondly the potential of young people in the region is being squandered,” he said.
“One in ten people are no longer applying to go to university because they can’t afford it – it’s as simple as that.”