UK: Universities to pay incentives to lure students

Institutions across the country, including City University London and Leicester, Surrey and Northumbria universities, are introducing payments to attract candidates with the best exam grades, writes Julie Henry for The Telegraph.

The non-means tested academic rewards are in response to new government rules that allow universities to take unlimited numbers of sixth formers gaining at least two As and a B at A-level - known as AAB plus students. With the new freedom to recruit more high-achieving students, less prestigious institutions fear that good quality applicants will increasingly be poached by higher-ranking universities.

In the first signs of a "scholarship arms race", universities are now vying to give the best deals to 2012 students, the first to face tuition fees of up to £9,000 (US$14,000) a year. At City University London, scholarships of £3,000 will be paid to AAB plus students in each year of a three- or four-year degree, subject to them passing their university exams.
Full report on The Telegraph site