Big fall in mature students comes as shock to universities

By Anna Fazackerley. Universities blame the economic crisis for an alarming 40% drop in older and part-time learners. When Donna Hunt, a former civil servant with two children under four, set about applying to university for the first time last year, the experience was "pretty daunting". As well as planning childcare and preparing to sit in a classroom for the first time in more than 15 years, she was faced with a complicated student loan application. "That paperwork was probably the scariest part of going to university," she says. "But without it I couldn't have done the course."
Hunt, 35, who lives in Surrey, is taking a certificate of higher education at Worcester University that will enable her to teach National Childbirth Trust (NCT) parenting classes, and she hopes to go on to study for a teaching degree. She does most of her part-time course from home, but has to go into London for practical training. Unlike the average 18-year-old, shoehorning university into a life already heaving with commitments has been a big challenge. "My studies happen on a rather ad hoc basis, in the evenings or at nap time, when I get the chance to sit down and get some head space," she says. "It is hard work, but rewarding. For me the thought of having a degree by the time I am 40 is just wonderful."
Such positivity is common in mature students once they reach university. However, figures suggest that since annual fees were hiked to up to £9,000 last year, large swaths of older learners are no longer making it through the university door.. Read more...