The two pie charts illustrate the distribution of students across five major reasons why they preferred studying at one particular UK university in two separate years: 1987 and 2007.
Overall, the percentage of students was unevenly distributed across two years, with students selecting that university mainly because of suitable degree courses, which accounted for the largest share and showed a slight increase over the period. Similarly, students who chose the university due to closeness to their parents experienced the steepest rise. In contrast, other factors, such as quality of teaching, quality of resources, and sports and social activities, became less significant, with teaching expertise falling to the lowest proportion over the span.
Suitable degree courses attracted most students throughout. The proportion of students, which stood at 35% in 1987, rose slightly to 37% in 2007 – the highest figure among all reasons. Meanwhile, those choosing that university primarily because of its closeness to their parents demonstrated a more dramatic increase. The figure rose from the initial 10% to the final 22%, a rise of 12 percentage points.
By contrast, quality of resources, quality of teaching, and sports and social activities showed downward trends. The fastest drop was seen in sports and social activities, with the share declining markedly from 19% to 6%, while quality of resources experienced a slight decrease to 17%. Finally, students who chose that particular university because of the expertise of teachers fell significantly, almost halving from 15% to 8%.