Flick has welcomed the latest UCAS data showing that university application rates for 18-year-olds remain at record levels around the country and has improved in Portsmouth South.
Flick says ‘I am particularly pleased that 25% of 18 yr olds in Portsmouth have applied to university compared to 17% in 2009. The proportion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds has also increased. Although I have always said that there are many other routes in the workplace such as apprenticeships and technical qualifications, it is great that more students from Portsmouth are taking advantage of a university degree to give them a good start in the job market. We still have to encourage more young people from our city to take this opportunity to study further.
I am looking forward to the review of universities including tuition fees and hope that the review will come up with a recommendation to reduce the interest rate on the loans which I believe are too high.’
Statistics released last week showed that a record proportion of state school pupils are going both to university, and to highly selective universities. 77 per cent of young entrants to Russell Group institutions in England were from state schools, and 90 per cent of young entrants to university more broadly came from state schools.
To ensure university courses offer good value for money, the Government has announced a major review of student financing, frozen the tuition fee cap and raised the repayment threshold to £25,000, saving graduates up to £360 per year from this April.