The two pie charts illustrate the five different reasons that motivated students to choose a college or university in the UK1985 and 2017.
Overall, the main reason continues to be suitable degree courses during both years, while very few students selected universities for its sports and social activities.
During both years, most students around 35%-37% chose universities that had suitable degree courses. In 1985, only 10% of students chose colleges based on their proximity to their parents house. This number increased more than double to 22% in 2007. 15% of students opted for universities based on their quality of teaching in 1985, and this figure increased slightly to 18% in 2007.
On the other hand, the proportion of students choosing a university based on its extracurriculars decreased from 19% in 1985 to 6% in 2007. Similarly, about 21% of learners chose institutions based on the quality of resources available in 1985, but this number declined to 17% in 2007.