Whatdoyoudoifyoudon’tgetintoyourfirstchoiceofuniversity?That’sthedilemmathatfacesthousandsofBritishstudentseveryyear.ManycandidatesturntoClearingtheservicethathelpsfinduniversityplacesforstudentsat
Whatdoyoudoifyoudon’tgetintoyourfirstchoiceofuniversity?That’sthedilemmathatfacesthousandsofBritishstudentseveryyear.
ManycandidatesturntoClearingtheservicethathelpsfinduniversityplacesforstudentsatthelastmoment.Iftheydon’thavethemarkstogetintotheirfirstchoiceofinstitutionClearingtellsthemaboutplacesavailableatotheruniversitiesthoughtheymighthavetoreadanothersubject.
Butthisyearhasseenarecordnumberofpeopleapplyingtouniversity.Thiscombinedwiththeweakeconomyanuncertainjobmarketandbudgetcutsatuniversitiesmeansthatthere'sbeenevenmoreofascrambleforplacesthanusual.Somesourcessaysixstudentshaveappliedforeachremainingundergraduateuniversityplace.
TheBritishuniversityadmissionsserviceUCASsaysuptoaquarterofthisyear’suniversityapplicants---almost190000people---stilldon’thaveaplaceonadegreecourse.That’sariseofover46000studentsfromlastyear.
FacedwiththesefiguressomeBritishstudentsmightbethinkingofaninterestingalternative:studyingabroad.TheUniversityofNottinghamforexample,isofferingplacesatitscampusesinNingbonearShanghaiandKualaLumpurMalaysia.StudentsherecangainUniversityofNottinghamdegreesinbusinessaccountingengineeringandEnglish.SimilarlytheUniversityofBoltonsaysithas‘unlimited’placesatitscampusintheUnitedArabEmirates.
GiventheproblemsgettingintouniversitytheUK’sHigherEducationMinisterDavidWillettsencouragesstudentswhohaven'tmadethegradetoconsideralternativestouniversitysuchasapprenticeshipsandstudyingathome.
"Therearearangeofoptionsavailable"hesays."Peopleareabletoreapply.TheyshouldthinkhowtheycanspendtheiryearaddingthatbittotheirCVwhichwouldhelptheirapplication---gettingpracticalworkexperienceorextraskills---anythingthatstrengthenstheirchancesnextyear."
Butsomeexpertssaythatrisinguniversitycostspoorlong-termjobprospectsandadropingraduaterecruitmentmeanit’stheworsttimetobeauniversitystudentintheUK.
小题1:Whentheauthorsaysthisyear“there’sbeenmoreofascrambleforplaces”(Para.3)hemeans_________________.