If there is any indication that an increase in tuition fees is having a positive outcome, then the flight to quality in subjects is heartening. The Torygraph reports that applications for the softer subjects such as media studies have dropped by a considerable margin. The drop for harder subjects, such as engineering and maths, is far less.
This could be open to criticism:
Toni Pearce, vice president of the National Union of Students, said: "The indication is that the confusion caused by the Government's botched reforms is causing young people to, at the very least, hesitate before applying to university.
"Ministers must stop tinkering around the edges of their shambolic reforms, listen to students, teachers and universities, and completely overhaul their white paper before temporary chaos turns into permanent damage to our education system."
It does not sound like new students are confused. They sound as if they are taking the time (what we might call hesitation) to evaluate their futures and choose subjects with long-term value. When Toni Pearce says she wants ministers to listen to students, she means herself.
Moving on, the tuition reforms may actually reverse the decline in science and math. Real money is channelled towards the more expensive subjects; they were disadvantaged under a flat pricing scheme where universities preferred to endorse cheaper disciplines, since numbers rather than quality counted.
This has gone some way to reverse that.
