Edge Hill University vice chancellor Dr John Cater welcomes announcement of 10,000 new university places

Jul 17 2009 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

EDGE Hill University has warmly welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of an additional 10,000 extra student places for the new academic year.

Gordon Brown announced on Thursday that funding for the extra places would be made available.

The University's Vice-Chancellor, Dr. John Cater, commented: “With 52,000 additional applications for only 3,000 places, there was as significant danger that high quality candidates would have been denied opportunities at the very time in which employment options are severely curtailed.

“Edge Hill University has already been contracted to take an additional 260 undergraduates to vocational courses this September.

“We will be happy to support the Government's targets of providing additional opportunities to well-qualified school leavers and mature candidates.

“With 96.4% of Edge Hill University's graduates in employment or further study within six months of graduating, and considering the current economic climate, we can understand why applications are up by 10% year-on-year.”

The 10,000 extra places will be spread accross universities all over the country. Edge Hill does not know yet how many extra places it will have.

Universities minister David Lammy is expected to announce the full details shortly.