英国政府“拍卖”招生名额：优秀大学叫苦不迭

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."

学者们今天警告说，越来越多的优秀学生将无法进入第一志愿的大学。数据显示，四分之三的教育机构将被迫缩减招生规模。

今年，英格兰130所大学中有近100所大学将被迫减少本科学生的录取人数。此前，英国联合政府启动了旨在降低大学学费的改革。

许多罗素大学集团(英国精英大学联盟)的成员也在缩减计划中，其中利物浦大学、利兹大学、曼彻斯特大学、纽卡斯尔大学和南安普顿大学受到的冲击尤其大。

来自政府的英格兰高等教育拨款委员会的数据显示，一些新兴的大学，如贝德福德郡和东伦敦大学将会缩减约1/8的招生名额。

在强制推行这次缩招计划之前，英国出台新规，规定自今年秋季开始，对学费超过7500英镑的大学给予有力惩罚。

这意味着许多大学录取名额转移到了学费低廉的继续教育学院。

部长们还解除了对大学招收在中学高级水平考试中获得至少两个A级和一个B级的优秀学生的人数限制——这将不可避免地引发对为数很少的一流学校名额的争夺战。

拨款委员会首席执行官艾伦•朗兰兹爵士认为，缩招不会使任何学校陷入“巨大的财政困境”。

但是，萨塞克斯大学副校长、1994集团主席迈克尔•法辛教授称，数据表明“许多杰出的学生将无法进入自己最理想的大学”。1994集团代表了许多小型研究机构。

他说：“大学的招生名额被整体缩减了，其中两万个名额将通过“拍卖”被分配到学费低于平均值的大学。”

“缩招不但使顶级大学无法录取更多的优秀学生，而且还迫使大学教育向廉价方向发展。”