The given bar charts represent the various factors encouraging students to study higher education in the UK, in 2008 and 2017.
Overall, the proportion of students choosing to continue higher education in the UK, reputation of institution, and sport activities increased, whereas the opposite was true for other categories. However, even though suitable degree courses became less popular, they still remained as the primary reason why students prefer to study in the UK. Notably, the most significant change occurred in the sporting category.
To begin with, in 2008, suitable degree courses were the primary reason for students choosing to study in the UK with 38%, followed by the second most popular reason, quality of teaching, accounting for 30 percentage points. Moreover, the initial proportion for students pursuing higher education due to proximity to parental homes was 17%. Meanwhile, reputation of the institution and sports and activities were less popular reasons, with 8 and 7 percentage points, respectively.
In 2017, an increase of 10% occurred in sporting categories, and reputation of the institution did so by 4%. In addition, relevant academic degrees and quality of teaching became less popular by 6 and 4%, correspondingly. Similarly, in 2017, there was a decrease of 4% in the percentage of students deciding to continue higher education in the UK because of proximity to parental homes.