英國政府“拍賣”招生名額：優秀大學叫苦不迭

Growing numbers of bright students face missing out on their first choice university, academics warned today, as figures showed three-quarters of institutions are being forced to slash places。

Almost 100 out of 130 universities in England could be forced to take fewer undergraduates this year numbers following the introduction of Coalition reforms designed to drive down tuition fees, it emerged。

Many members of the elite Russell Group are among those facing reductions, with Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton being particularly hit。

Data from the Government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England suggests some newer universities such as Bedfordshire and East London are expecting to lose around one-in-eight places。

The cuts are being imposed following the introduction of new rules that effectively penalise universities charging more than £7,500 in student fees from this autumn。

It means large numbers of places are being shifted towards cheap further education colleges。

Ministers are also lifting controls on the number of bright students gaining at least two A grades and a B at A-level that universities can recruit – leading to an inevitable scramble towards a small number of top institutions。

Sir Alan Langlands, the funding council’s chief executive, denied the loss of student places would tip any institution into "significant financial trouble"。

But Prof Michael Farthing, vice-chancellor of Sussex University and chairman of the 1994 Group, which represents many small research institutions, said the figures show that "many excellent students will be denied places at their first choice universities."

"The number of students universities are allowed to recruit has been cut across the sector, with 20,000 places auctioned off to institutions with lower than average fees," he said。

"Far from giving the best universities freedom to take on more students this represents a push to a cut-price education."學者們今天警告說，越來越多的優秀學生將無法進入第一志願的大學。數據顯示，四分之三的教育機構將被迫縮減招生規模。

今年，英格蘭130所大學中有近100所大學將被迫減少本科學生的錄取人數。此前，英國聯合政府啓動了旨在降低大學學費的改革。

許多羅素大學集團(英國精英大學聯盟)的成員也在縮減計劃中，其中利物浦大學、利茲大學、曼徹斯特大學、紐卡斯爾大學和南安普頓大學受到的衝擊尤其大。

來自政府的英格蘭高等教育撥款委員會的數據顯示，一些新興的大學，如貝德福德郡和東倫敦大學將會縮減約1/8的招生名額。

在強制推行這次縮招計劃之前，英國出臺新規，規定自今年秋季開始，對學費超過7500英鎊的大學給予有力懲罰。

這意味着許多大學錄取名額轉移到了學費低廉的繼續教育學院。

部長們還解除了對大學招收在中學高級水平考試中獲得至少兩個A級和一個B級的優秀學生的人數限制——這將不可避免地引發對爲數很少的一流學校名額的爭奪戰。

撥款委員會首席執行官艾倫•朗蘭茲爵士認爲，縮招不會使任何學校陷入“巨大的財政困境”。

但是，薩塞克斯大學副校長、1994集團主席邁克爾•法辛教授稱，數據表明“許多傑出的學生將無法進入自己最理想的大學”。1994集團代表了許多小型研究機構。

他說：“大學的招生名額被整體縮減了，其中兩萬個名額將通過“拍賣”被分配到學費低於平均值的大學。”

“縮招不但使頂級大學無法錄取更多的優秀學生，而且還迫使大學教育向廉價方向發展。”