Students not told which universities are struggling

Students choosing a university can now look up how many hours of teaching they can expect, their likelihood of getting a job and what other students thought of their course. But this year, one crucial piece of information is missing. If your chosen institution is in trouble, with plummeting applications for the second year in a row, you may well be in the dark about it, writes Anna Fazackerley for the Guardian.

For the first time UCAS, the university admissions service, has decided to withhold annual figures on the number of applications to individual institutions. The data, on undergraduate applications for the 2013-14 academic year, were scheduled to be released after 15 January – the main deadline for university entrance prior to the last-minute clearing process in the summer.

UCAS says that it changed its plans because of "potential volatility in supply and demand" following the introduction of higher fees last year. However, vice-chancellors say the organisation is responding to intense pressure from specific institutions whose numbers are seriously deflated for the second year running and who are determined that this should not become public knowledge.
Full report on the Guardian site