The number of degrees which attract zero students at universities across the country has risen despite a drop in the number of courses available, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

Times Higher Education report:

The number of degree programmes offered by universities that failed to enrol any students has risen despite cutbacks in course portfolios, Times Higher Education has found.

There was a 7.6 per cent rise in the number of unfilled courses between 2011-12 and 2012-13 at universities that responded to a THE Freedom of Information request, sparking debate over whether unfilled courses represent a costly failure to do proper market research or are an inevitable by-product of a broad curriculum.

Sixty universities told THE how many degree courses (including part-time and postgraduate taught programmes, but excluding joint honours) had failed to recruit over the past two years.

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I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.