Students not being frightened of going to University - Simon Hughes

(From an article in The Guardian, 30 Jan 2012 by Simon Hughes MP

Analysed properly, the latest application figures show that students are not distracted by myths about new tuition fees

On Monday we saw the first reliable data on the effects that the changes in higher education policy have had on applications to universities in England. Given the huge public debate on this issue, the background of mass protestand violence against which this decision was taken and the inevitable politicisation of this decision, it is no surprise that some people have decided to use the latest official Ucas figures and the top-line 8% decline in the number of applications to make the case that higher university fees have put off young people from applying to university. Some of these people, like Sally Hunt of the University and Colleges Union, seem to delight in this analysis because it fits better with their ideological opposition to the coalition government.

However, a more objective analysis of the data shows a clearer picture. Although applications were down by a significant number, the total number of 18-year-olds in England this year is significantly down as well. If you adjust the figures to take account of changes in demographic, the application rate in England - which is where the changes in higher education policy have the greatest effect - has declined by only 1%. Just as important, the decline is proportionately higher in areas where more people go to university and which tend to be more affluent (where the figure is 2.5%) compared with more deprived areas, which very encouragingly have hardly seen any decline at all (0.2%). Both of these figures compare with a 3.5% population-adjusted decline in applications across England when the Labour government introduced top-up fees for the 2006 academic year.

I was one of the Liberal Democrat MPs who did not support the rise in tuition fees in 2010. My fear was that although nobody going to university for the first time would pay up-front fees, this message would be lost among the political fallout and the headlines of £9,000 fees. I was worried particularly about young people from very mixed and traditionally working-class inner city communities such as those I represent in Bermondsey and Southwark.

There was certainly a huge amount of disinformation immediately after the vote which suggested university would become unaffordable. Much of this completely ignored the fact that repayments would be entirely dependent on future incomes and that every graduate would pay less every month than graduates under the current system.

However, once the 2010 decision had been taken, I was determined to make sure that every young person received the best information possible to make their decision. After being appointed advocate for access to education in 2011, I travelled the country and heard first-hand that when young people were presented with facts not fiction about the costs of higher education, they were much more willing to apply.

To have the greatest effect, these facts had to be seen as independently verified and delivered by people who were trusted. To achieve this, the government launched the independent taskforce on student finance information last June, to co-ordinate communication with future students. Later in the year this group launched the student finance tour, which sent graduates into schools and colleges to organise a visit from recent graduates to every school and college across the country - to explain how the new system for financing higher education will work.

The good work from the government and many others in making sure that all young people have access to clear and independent information on student finance should not end with the passing of the January deadline for Ucas applications. There are still many people who apply for university later in the year or through clearing. It is also important that young people are aware of all the support available through the national scholarship scheme before they start their studies in 2012.

Initiatives such as the independent taskforce and the student finance tour have had a huge positive effect. Serious thanks are due to those who have made sure that all young people who want to go to university this year are not put off by any false information about fees, loans or anything else