Students show evidence of being more discerning in choice of HEI

The sixth biennial Sodexo-Times Higher Education University Lifestyle Survey has just been published. Amongst its findings are that 27% of students said that their university study would not be worthwhile in the long run, compared to 18% two years ago. In terms of future plans, 23% said future debt had affected their career choice, up from 15% two years ago, when fees were much lower. Other findings were that 24% said that access to wi-fi was their top priority in choosing university run accommodation, compared to 6% who said having a good student bar or café. The proportion of students living at home has remained broadly the same over the last 2 years, up from 18% to 19% but more students are choosing universities within reasonable travel time from the family home. Some 33% said they did not drink at all, compared to 23% two years ago, whilst 40% said they drank just once a week. The percentage of students worrying about their degree classification was 84%, compared to 72% two years ago and only 57% in 2006.

 

Reasons for University Choice	%		% who feel the debt is acceptable
Favourable internet research	55%		Medicine & allied subjects	79%
Friendly atmosphere	51%		Maths/computing & technology	73%
Good impression from open days	50%		Science and engineering	67%
Campus university	38%		Business and management	64%
Attractive environment	38%		Law	64%
Location/transport links	35%		Social sciences	60%
Living away from home but close enough	33%		Humanities and arts	54%
Recommendation from friends/peers	30%		Overall	64%
Advice from parents	26%
Quality of accommodation	24%