Sussex to start offering degrees starting in January to bring in more international students

The University of Sussex is one of many institutions who are planning to start offering new “carousel” degrees to attract more international students. These courses will divert away from the traditional September start date, in an effort to boost student enrolment after major declines due to Covid. This comes after an article published by The Times revealed that “many from overseas failed to turn up on some campuses.” As well as Sussex, Coventry and Liverpool Universities are among those leading the way with this new format, offering hundreds of new degrees that will start in January 2021.

The Times reported that Sussex’s vice-chancellor Adam Tickell, had stated that “We wanted to ensure that those students who are interested in our courses . . . had the opportunity to join us at a different time.”

The University will also be offering discounted fees of up to 30% and scholarships to third year undergraduates if they choose to embark on a post-graduate degree next academic year. This comes as a recent study reported that 47% of final year students are thinking about post-graduate study as a result of anxiety over job prospects because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

These extra start dates are thought to be a result of Universities being threatened with mergers or even closure, some have been hit by threats of rent strikes and legal action as a result of multiple claims stating students have been misled and mis-sold courses, by selling the prospect of face-to-face and practical teaching which then became exclusively virtual.

An Admissions Tutor at one of the Universities adopting the new model has said that as many as half of the expected overseas student cohort had chosen not to travel to some UK campuses. The dropout rates of first years is also predicted to be double the amount it was last academic year (2019-2020) due to the ongoing pandemic.