Exeter has reached 8th place in this year’s joint Times and Sunday Times university league table. It rises from 10th place in the 2013 Times league table though has fallen from 7th place in the Sunday Times 2013 table.
It currently sits at 12th in The Guardian‘s 2014 university rankings and at 10th in The Independent‘s Complete University Guide.
According to the University of Exeter website, the newspapers cite 2013’s Sunday TimesUniversity of the Year award, along with entry to the Russell Group, as reasons for a 19% rise in applications to study at Exeter.
‘Consistently high levels of student satisfaction’ in recent years have also contributed to Exeter’s growing reputation as an established top-ten institution.
Applications are currently open for University of Exeter students to apply for the University Community Impact Challenge, 18th October-mid-December.
The Students’ Guild is working in partnership with Morgan Stanley for the second-year running to provide first and second-year students with this exciting opportunity.
During the Challenge, successful students will work with local Exeter charities to help address particular needs and provide genuine results for the local community. They will receive guidance from senior Morgan Stanley managers and develop their ability to project manage and deliver results.
They will also be supported by the Guild’s Activities and Volunteering Hub in using their experience to become key figures in connecting students to the local community and bringing awareness to social issues.
Image credit: Eat That Frog CIC
This year’s charity partner is Eat That Frog CIC an organisation which works to help people move forward in their lives through individualised courses, activities and events.
Managing director, Ian Powell said of the project: “To work with Exeter Students’ Guild and Morgan Stanley is a wonderful opportunity for us to help a wider range of people in the city to identify barriers in their life and explore ways to overcome these. We look forward to introducing our student collaborators to the different approach of a community interest company in meeting social objectives identified by local needs analysis.”
The project is facilitated by Three Hands, a company that works in corporate responsibility, bringing together businesses with local communities.
Project Manager Mary Kunnenkeril says: “We are pleased to be working with the University of Exeter Students’ Guild for the second time and have lined up a really engaging project, which will give the students a real experience of the social needs in the community, whilst also bringing tangible benefit to the partner organisation.”
To find out more and to apply for the programme, please visit the project website.
In an attempt to fill university places this term, institutions across the country are offering cash incentives, laptops and iPads to attract prospective students.
University admission rules across the country have been affected by government reforms, which scrap the limit on how many students with AAB grades and above that each university can accept. As a result, it is possible for institutions to recruit unrestricted numbers of students.
The reform particularly effects lower-ranking institutions, due to leading universities obtaining higher quantities of students. Reportedly, at least sixty middle and lower ranking universities in England (according to The Sunday Times league table) have started to work on attracting students through more innovative initiatives.
Goldsmiths College has one of the more generous incentives, offering course fee waivers to the ten highest-scoring students from Lewisham, saving each student £27,000 in tuition fees. Incentives are also being offered to students with lower grades; the Newman University of Birmingham is offering a £10,000 grant to students with a minimum of BBB on some courses.
Many of the offered packages include additional non-cash incentives. Surrey University will give a free membership to Surrey Sports Park health centre alongside £3,000 to successful applicants with A level grades of A*AA or higher. Newcastle offer to all AAB students £2,000 per year and a laptop.
But despite The University of Exeter recruiting 600 extra students this year, a University spokesperson revealed that no such offers were made to prospective students. “Applications are at a record level and no incentives were needed for 2013 entrees,” they said.
Statistics seen by Exeposé shed some light on the provisional make up of next term’s intake, and of all applicants to the University.
The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), anonymously reveals the gender, predicted grades and education type of each student, available in a table pictured below.
Just over 27,500 applicants were offered places, with over 12,000 acceptances.
Of the 8,131 students who picked Exeter as their firm choice for 2013 entry, the majority are female and have predicted grades of AAB or above. Most hail from state schools but proportionally privately educated teenagers take up a large amount of offers, given that only 7% of the population attend independent institutions.
Almost 1,000 offer holders are known to have been predicted less than AAB, though this figure may be significantly higher. Much like the educational background of some students, the University does not know the predicted grades of a minority of applicants; whilst those yet to receive offers through clearing or adjustment are also not included.
Separate figures show that applications to Exeter have increased by a third on last year’s figures, on the back of entering the Russell Group and being awarded the Sunday Times University of the Year award.
The dramatic increase of 33% is believed to be the reason behind the University’s decision not to enter clearing this year. It represents the first time applications have gone up since tuition fees were tripled in 2010, with 34,077 students applying for 2013/14 entry, compared to 25,629 the previous year.
Both sets of provisional statistics are available below.
Applications to the University of Exeter for 2013/14 have increased by 25 per cent according to a survey by The Sunday Times survey, making it the highest increase across the country.
Photo credits to the University of Exeter
The figures, coming after a late surge in applications from prospective students, disprove earlier evidence that suggested applications to higher education were due to suffer a significant drop. Exeter is expected to create 10 per cent cent more student places for the coming year to account for the rise in applications. Some disciplines, including economics and business, are up 45 per cent.
Nick Davies, Guild President, attributes the rise to the University being regarded as a more prestigious institution: “The increase of 25 per cent in applications to Exeter just goes to show how highly regarded the University is on both a national and global scale. As The Sunday Times’ University of the Year and a recent Russell Group entrant, Exeter is now a leading university, and is sure to remain that way.
“Going forwards, however, we must ensure that we are providing all the financial help we can to the students who have been unable to receive full support from the government.”
exeposedev 