The two pie charts illustrate different factors affecting students to choose universities in the UK in 1982 and 2002.
According to these two charts, the factor ‘suitable courses and degrees’ accounted for 40% in 1982, while it saw a decline to 34% in 2002 and still had the largest proportion. And there was a similar trend in the factors of costs and location, with the percentages of 28% and 19% dropping to 5% and 16% respectively.
By comparison, the opposite tendency can be seen in the other three factors. Concerning the figure of the factor of amenities, social activities and sports facilities, it saw a sharp increase from 5% to 18% in 2002. Meanwhile, the reputation of the institution represented 5% of all factors in 1982, and the figure rose modestly by 20% during the two decades. While the proportion of reason for admission criteria remained basically unchanged at around 2%.
Overall, suitable courses and degrees were the most significant factors for students when choosing their ideal universities, whereas the factor of admission criteria was the least important.
