英大學申請人數大幅下降 多所名牌高校或降線招生

Universities will be forced to compete harder than ever to fill empty places after the release of A-Level results this week, as experts report that a dip in UK university applications means a “great year for students”.
等本週高考成績公佈後，英國大學將不得不爲了填補生源空缺而展開前所未有的競爭，專家報告稱，英國大學申請人數下降意味着今年“對學生來說是個好年頭”。

Some Russell Group universities will lower their entry requirements in a bid to enlist students onto under-subscribed courses, sector leaders predict.
行業專家預測，爲了給選課人數不夠的課程招收學生，羅素大學集團的一些院校將降低入學標準。

Applications to UK universities were down by 4 percent this year, due to a sharp fall in the number of applications from European Union students as well as a broader long-term decline in the size of the youth population.
今年英國大學申請人數下降了4%，原因是歐盟學生申請數量急劇減少，青年人口規模長期下降。

As a result, 'clearing' - the process where students who do not achieve the grades required for their preferred university search for spaces on rival, under-subscribed courses - will be more competitive than ever, as admissions teams scramble to fill empty places.
其結果是，各招生團隊將爭相填補招生空白，補錄競爭將會更加激烈。所謂補錄，是指沒有達到首選大學分數要求的學生，可以在其他學校課程或選課人數不夠的課程中尋找錄取機會。

“Clearing will be as competitive as previous years, if not more so because of the demographic dip,” Christine Edgar, head of student recruitment and admissions at the University of Sheffield, told Times Higher Education (THE).
謝菲爾德大學招生處負責人克里斯汀•埃德加對《泰晤士報高等教育》雜誌表示，“由於人口下降，補錄競爭至少會和往年一樣激烈。”

“It's going to be a great year for students,” she added.
她還表示：“這對學生來說是個大好年頭。”

Durham, Edinburgh, Bristol, and other top Russell Group universities are all offering places through clearing this year.
杜倫大學、愛丁堡大學、布里斯托大學以及羅素大學集團其他頂尖學校今年都提供補錄名額。

The University of Bristol is offering places on 98 courses through clearing, including Chemistry, Physics, and Philosophy, whilst the University of Leeds is offering places on 530 courses.
布里斯托大學98門課程有補招名額，包括化學、物理以及哲學，而利茲大學則有530門課程進行補招。

The University of Exeter is advertising unfilled places on 75 courses, including Modern Languages and Archaeology, whilst the University of Birmingham has two courses available: Pharmacy and Social Work.
埃克塞特大學的現代語言學和考古學等75門課程登出了空缺名額，包括現代語言學和考古學。而伯明翰大學的藥學和社會工作學兩門課程可以補錄。

Mike Nicholson, director of student recruitment and admissions at the University of Bath, said that many universities will use their ranking in the government's recent Teaching Excellence Framework to lure students in.
巴斯大學招生處主任麥克•尼科爾森稱，許多大學用自己在政府近日公佈的“教學卓越框架”評價體系中的排名來吸引學生。

“Universities that have a gold rating will be pushing hard to promote this in their publicity campaigns,” he told THE.
尼科爾森告訴《泰晤士報高等教育》雜誌，“擁有黃金評級的大學在招生宣傳中將大力宣傳這點。”

He also predicted that many of the UK's most competitive institutions will dip into the pool of students with grades lower than they would usually accept.
他還預測，許多最具競爭力的英國教學機構將招收低於以往錄取分數的學生。

But Sir Ian Diamond, vice-chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and deputy chair of Ucas, cautioned universities against dropping their entry requirements too low.
不過，阿伯丁大學副校長兼英國大學和學院招生服務中心副主席伊恩•戴蒙德爵士提醒高校應注意不能過分降低入學標準。

Universities must ensure that students have the academic ability to succeed on the courses they are accepted to, he said.
他表示，大學必須確保學生具有成功完成被錄取課程的學術能力。