Admissions

Articulating numerical goals can focus efforts, commentators say, but not always in the right direction

Leading institutions are not ‘lining their pockets’ by shifting recruitment to international students, says analysis, and situation for less prestigious campuses is even worse

What the country really needs is a common school and evaluation system that compensates for background inequalities, says Gowhar Rashid Ganie

Universities told to spend 5 per cent of total income on equality programmes after report finds UN 2030 goal ‘highly unlikely’ to be met

All but tiny minority of population qualify for enrolment under ‘economically weaker’ label

Leading civil rights figure in US higher education questions assertions by Supreme Court justices that ending legacy advantages could be a reasonable response to their expected ban on affirmative action

Nearly two dozen British institutions now accept a test that allows Chinese high schoolers taking domestic curriculum to apply to universities abroad

Ahead of ruling on Harvard and North Carolina cases, conservative majority on nation’s top court makes clear it leans towards ending predecessors’ 2003 approval of racial preferences in college admissions

‘Dual enrolments’ jump 11 per cent in a year in what colleges hope is a move that will encourage low-income students to consider higher education

Figures include those applying to Oxford and Cambridge, as well as medicine, dentistry and veterinary hopefuls

Regional Australian universities’ fears of losing ‘equity’ enrolments to city rivals prove unfounded

With nation in long-term demographic decline, historically black campuses and dual-enrolled high school students offer hope for growth in post-secondary sector

Report attributes shift to dependency on international fees and heightened competition

Celebrated Harvard economist opens THE’s World Academic Summit by showing academia’s top leaders the ways their sector continues to stratify society

Making appropriate decisions is difficult for students when information is scarce and inaccurate, say Kaibalyapati Mishra and Krishna Raj 

We must examine how our measures of merit are impacted by culture, context, place and hierarchy, says Cheryl de la Rey

As legal challenge gains, Congress avoids renewing provision seen letting elite campuses tie financial offers to student ability to pay

The standardised test is graduate schools’ ideal measurement tool for the personality traits they seek in applicants, says John Gomez

Hitting targets ‘not the be-all and end-all’, John Blake tells THE, as national risk register for higher education participation planned

A groaning university wants ministerial permission to impose separate English- and Dutch-language course caps

Shortage of doctors can’t be fixed by pushing back admissions decisions, says centre-left rival

Former University of Southern California water polo coach gets new trial as federal judge cites significance of USC accepting payment from student’s family

Lower tariff providers have enjoyed their best clearing in years as elite universities abandon expansionist ambitions due to fees freeze

As universities buff up their diversity credentials, Australia’s largest regional institution warns of ‘hunting’ in its backyard

The new UK PM’s team needs to maintain access for the hardest-to-reach, fulfil research spending promises and continue levelling up, says Laura Brassington

About 17,800 applications paused as foundation scrambles to help almost 300 medical and dentistry students promised non-existent places

With the continent’s youth population set to soar, many observers worry that its overstretched universities will be unable to cope, with consequences for the whole world. So what is the solution? More overseas or online study? More branch campuses? Pan-African partnerships? Simon Baker reports 

From admissions to outreach and student data collection, the undergraduate journey must be reviewed to narrow unacceptable social and educational inequalities, say Kim Hunter Reed and Ray Belton

More fluid degree paths could help graduates develop critical thinking, academics say, amid concerns over how similar changes could affect recruitment

‘Tentative signs’ the worst is over for lower tariff institutions after difficult decade since number controls lifted

But academics note silver lining, with larger number of qualified local high schoolers gaining access to city’s high-quality institutions

Capping course intakes causes student surges elsewhere, university president says, calling for ‘urgent’ political action to stem international flows

Fluctuations in gaokao admission scores indicate growing pursuit of career stability

One of UK higher education’s leading data scientists, DataHE’s founder Mark Corver presents the key statistics that will define this year’s turbulent A levels and clearing season

Sector ‘re-righting itself’ post-pandemic means more miss out on places in ‘one of the toughest university admissions rounds in years’

About 20,000 applicants miss out on top choice as grades are deflated back to 2019 levels

Thousands of applicants missing out on their first-choice university is not a pandemic-era blip but a ‘new normal’ that will force many more to look for excellent courses beyond the Russell Group, says Mary Curnock Cook

‘Under the radar’ practice of charging students to secure their places a sign of ‘increasingly deregulated admissions process’, says Jo Grady

‘Absolute support’ for Australian government’s decision to quarantine extra places for disadvantaged students

With Covid exam disruption mostly gone but early entry schemes still in the ascendancy, admission stresses have been brought forward

Rebalancing of undergraduate intakes after fee freeze ‘not a factor’ this year but may prove important in future, says Ucas chief executive

Experts say well-researched tools will be needed to draw more young men into medicine, psychology, dentistry and veterinary studies

Financial uncertainties and changing demographics mean this year’s admissions cycle signals shift in universities’ approach

Graham Virgo ‘very concerned’ by Liz Truss’ policy that would guarantee interviews for all straight-A* students

Reversal of rampant grade inflation may offer hope to English universities whose offer-making was disrupted by predicted A levels

Post-92s and private universities more likely to offer incoming students the option of when they begin their course while Russell Group stick to traditional autumn start

Working-class pupils particularly fearful, finds survey, with universities urged to give ‘additional leniency’ on admissions

With university set to become a near-universal expectation for high-school graduates, the separate silos in which K12 and higher education have traditionally operated are increasingly being seen as barriers to equity. But what, realistically, can universities do to bridge the great divide? Paul Basken reports 

There will always be a political temptation to charge universities with improving a school system that leaves some students underprepared

As loss in Harvard and UNC cases seems likely, dozens of top corporations argue in filings that they do better with diverse workforces

New figures show record-breaking levels of progression to higher education for pupils on free school meals

Commonly used widening participation initiative not targeting those who would benefit most from such schemes, study finds

‘Generation lockdown’ wanting a break from the books blamed for steep decrease as high employment rate lures some away from study

Decades or centuries needed if progress continues at its current pace, consultancy firm concludes

Number of students expected to start courses in UK higher education hits all-time high, after 44 per cent of all 18-year-olds applied

With SAT and ACT already losing acceptance because of inequities, GAO details cost-related struggle of students to gain needed accommodations

Emphasising the value for money offered by a vibrant learning community is a much better pitch to potential students, says Aaron Basko

‘The current court has clearly shown its willingness to directly overturn past precedents in order to achieve conservative policy goals, and I don’t see why this case would be different,’ says sociologist

Ucas analysis suggests online learning may not have suited students with disabilities, who were more inclined to delay their degree

Sole courtroom victor in three years of prosecutions says jurors needed to hear that institutions went along, and then believe that nobody was hurt