The statistics illustrate the breakdown of total students at a college or university in the UK with regard to reasons motivating them in two separate years, 2008 and 2017.
Overall, during the assessed years, the reputation of the institutions and sports and activities increased considerably, which in contrast to the other reasons. Another key feature is that the suitability of courses held the leading position in both given years.
Looking first at the year 2008, the most popular reason for deciding which college to attend was suitable degree courses, standing at 38%, which was 8% higher than the quality of teaching. The third position belonged to the proximity to parental home, at 17%, leaving a small minority of under 10% each for the reputation of institutions and for sports and activities.
Thereafter, the figures for suitable degree courses fell slightly by 6%, and it still ranked at the first highest preference. Similarly, the quality of teaching and the proximity to home witnesses minimal decreases in students’ preference, reaching 26% and 13%, respectively. Conversely, sports and activities climbed significantly to 17%, which was similar to institution’ reputation, with less remarkable growth of 4%, ranking last at the end of the timeline.