Numbers up as students fight to evade fees rise

Applications to universities in the West Midlands have risen – while numbers opting to defer a year have plunged as students look to evade soaring tuition fees.

Admission chiefs at Staffordshire University say applications were up 30 per cent this year. This will form the final intake before tuition fees increase to amounts of up to £8,890 a year.

The University of Wolverhampton has seen a rise of 30 per cent over the last two years. But those opting to defer their studies until next year have fallen.

With A-level results set to be unveiled tomorrow, the University of Birmingham said less than 2,000 of around 40,000 prospective students had asked to defer until 2012.

Usually 10 per cent, or 4,000, want to skip a year.

Wolverhampton also said deferrals had dropped.

Birmingham is among five universities in the West Midlands which want to charge up to £9,000, along with Aston, Keele, Warwick and Coventry charging between £4,600 and £9,000.