The pie charts illustrates the proportion of primary reasons student choice of university in the UK in the years of 1997 and 2007.
Overall, suitable degree courses was the most significant reason by far in both years. This also increased dominance, while proximity to parental home became more important over time. In contrast, the importance of quality and social activities showed smaller changes.
In 1997, the largest proportion of students chose a university for suitable degree courses (35%). This was followed by quality of resources (21%) and with good sports and social activities (19%). Students who valued quality of teaching showed 15%. Meanwhile, only 10% of students chose universities for their proximity to parental home, which made it least important factor.
By 2007, suitable degree courses increased slightly to 37%. Notably, proximity to parental home increased significantly to 19% becoming the second influential factor. On the other hand, the percentage of learners who valued the quality of resources slightly decreased from 21% to 17%. Similarly, sports and social activities decreased substantially to 6%, while teaching quality saw a slight increase to 18%.