The amount spent by Universities on attracting new students in the build up to the introduction to higher fees, a Freedom of Information requests have revealed. 

As Universities become more competitive and begin to rely on the amount of money student numbers bring in this figure is surely set to increase further.

The Times Higher Education report:

UK universities increased their spending on marketing to potential students by nearly a quarter in the run-up to the introduction of higher fees, a Times Higher Education investigation has found, yet suffered a 7.4 per cent fall in applications.

Commentators have suggested that this type of expenditure will continue to rise owing to the “circular logic of the market”, despite it being a “zero-sum game” for the sector because overall undergraduate places are capped.

Spending at the 70 institutions that responded with figures to a THE Freedom of Information request rose from £26.1 million in the 2010-11 financial or academic year to £31.9 million in 2011-12.

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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.