FT - Oxford University to reduce British intake
John Hood has wasted no time in getting going on changes at the University. Sent in by Miroslav Vassilev
FT.com / Home UK - Oxford University to reduce British intake
By Miranda Green, Education Correspondent
Published: January 24 2005 21:57 | Last updated: January 24 2005 21:57
Oxford is planning to cut undergraduate numbers, and to give more of the available places to applicants from outside the European Union, in a move that will increase the intense competition to get into the university.
The decision is part of a 10-year strategy presented on Monday as a "radical" plan to avert a decline in the university's finances and international standing.
John Hood, the institution's vice-chancellor, made clear he had rejected calls from the heads of some Oxford colleges to break free from public funding for undergraduate teaching and "go private".
Instead, a recruitment drive will be launched outside the EU. The number of graduate students will also be increased, and their training improved, as graduate studies become more central to Oxford's research and teaching activities.
Increasing the proportion of non-EU undergraduates from nearly 7 per cent to about 12 per cent of the total would improve the university's revenues substantially.
Oxford is making a loss in nearly all its core activities, with the average undergraduate education costing £18,600 a year against income per undergraduate of £9,500.
Only the income from the Oxford University Press has been enabling the university to break even.
Although undergraduates from Britain and the EU will have to contribute £3,000 a year towards tuition costs from 2006, the academic strategy consultation said this would "make only a small dent in the loss per student".
In a wide-ranging document, the university admitted that not all students were high quality. In eight subject areas, 10 per cent of the undergraduates had been admitted in spite of failing to satisfy their entry conditions.