Student landlords may be facing growing numbers of students wanting to
defer this year with one university offering a £10,000 cash incentive to do
so.
There’s also the prospect that 100,000 international students currently
living in ‘red list’ countries will not be allowed to travel to the UK – or
there may not be enough hotel quarantine capacity for dealing with such a
large number.
Now the University of Exeter is offering its medical
students £10,000 to defer entry this year, to 2022/23.
Exeter is also offering one year of free accommodation as an added
incentive, as they face a surge in student applications.
Accommodation for students
Accommodation for students in the university’s Rowancroft building will
normally cost students £6,574 for an ensuite room, or for a studio flat,
£7,611.
Along with a strong surge in applications, universities are also facing
uncertainty over this year’s A-level grade inflation.
The University of Exeter says there has been a big rise in the number of
candidates wanting to study medicine who have made Exeter their first
choice, but their medical student numbers are capped by the government.
The University has now written to candidates they have accepted in a bid to
get them to delay until next year.
Medicine student numbers
The University’s deputy vice chancellor, Prof Mark Goodwin, said: “Medicine
student numbers have been set by the government to ensure we can
accommodate them in a way that provides high-quality education as well as a
stimulating student experience.
“We are offering options, including deferral, financial incentives or to
study a postgraduate programme, prior to students starting medical studies
next year.”
The move by Exeter to offer a deferral comes as universities across the UK
say they are receiving record numbers of student applications.
They say that applications from 18-year-olds are already up 10% on last
year’s figures.
Admissions officers say that the number of students wanting to study
medicine has risen by 20% on 2020’s figure.
The officers say they are also worried about grade inflation because exams
have been cancelled and teacher-assessed grades are being used instead –
which could see more students achieving the required grades.
Expand the number of places for students
The chief executive of the Russell Group of universities,
Dr Tim Bradshaw, says now is the time for the government to expand the
number of places for students to study medicine this year.
He said: “There is a significant increase in applications and the
uncertainty that is generated with the introduction of teacher-assessed
grades means it’s harder for universities to judge the right number of
offers they should make.
“This is the case for medicine, particularly, where place numbers are
capped by the government.”
The move by Exeter University could well be followed by other higher
institutions and university leaders say they are gearing up for a hectic
A-level results day.
International student ‘timebomb’
Student landlords also face the prospect of an international student
‘timebomb’ with 100,000 students due to start their university courses in
the autumn.
However, it is unclear whether the UK has enough hotel quarantine capacity
for such a large number.
One of the issues is the cost of a hotel quarantine with international
students having to pay £1,750 to stay 10 days in a government-approved
quarantine hotel.
But because the hotel quarantine system will come under strain, Universities UK International believes many of those
students will either defer until January or September next year or drop out
of their course altogether.
A spokesman for the National Indian Students Union UK said
that 55,000 Indian students are planning to come to the country in
September.
The spokesman told one newspaper that there’s little chance of India being
removed from the ‘red list’ of countries soon and there aren’t enough
hotels to cater for such a large intake of students.
Students to quarantine from red list countries
However, some universities in Scotland say they will allow students to
quarantine from red list countries on the campus – but a pilot test needs
to be carried out first.
In addition, of the 130 universities in the UK, just 17 have offered to
help international students with the cost of their hotel quarantine.
The managing director of Accommodation for Students, Simon
Thompson, said: “After all of the problems brought by the pandemic, student
landlords are still facing potential issues with restrictions and deferment
this year and the prospect of international students deferring or dropping
their course.
“We have been calling consistently for the government to step in and help
landlords in the UK in these trying times and we need student landlords to
be reassured that they are not
