Free Speech Mentorn Media University Poll

ComRes interviewed 16 to 25 year olds on behalf of Mentorn Media.

Date Published: 14 Aug 2012

Categories: Education | Public and communities | Social | UK

Description

72% OF BRITISH YOUNG PEOPLE SAY TUITION FEES WILL LEAD TO FEWER PURSUING UNIVERSITY
In the week that A-level results are released in England and Wales, an exclusive opinion poll for FREE SPEECH on BBC THREE Wednesday, 15th August at 7pm shows that more than 7 out of 10 young people say the new system of tuition fees will lead to fewer applying and attending university.
The new system has been announced in England and Wales and comes into effect in September 2012. Students will receive loans to pay for their tuition, with most universities charging £8,000-£9,000 a year for three years. Students have to pay back their loans after graduation, when they earn more than £21,000 a year.
ComRes surveyed five hundred 16-25 year olds in Great Britain by telephone between 2nd and 12th July 2012. Respondents were sampled and weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults aged 16-25.
Asked if they thought the change to university tuition fees will or will not lead to fewer people applying to and attending university, 72% said fewer people will apply and attend university, with 25% saying it will not lead to fewer pursuing university; 2% didn’t know.
Asked if universities are justified or unjustified in charging tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year, 70% said it was unjustified, 26% said it was justified and 4% didn’t know.
However, most young people in the survey think that overall a University degree is worthwhile. Asked: “Overall, do you think that going to University is worthwhile and outweighs the cost of going to University, or not?”, 57% said Yes, 37% said No , and 6% either didn’t know or thought neither was the case. Almost three-quarters (74%) of young people surveyed who are currently in education think that the benefit of having a degree outweighs the costs of going to university, compared to 53% of those in work.
37% of young people aged 22-25 do not think that employers value A-Level qualifications although 61% disagree. The majority of those surveyed overall (92%) thought that Universities valued A-Levels more than employers (68%) or politicians (58%).
 

ComRes surveyed 500 16-25-year-olds in Great Britain by telephone between 2nd and 12th July 2012. Data were sampled and weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults aged 16 to 25. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables can be found at comres.co.uk