Making big decisions in an information vacuum
HEPI readers will be painfully aware of the myriad of issues facing university decision makers that require their immediate attention. Whether it’s implementing their safety net policy, supporting current students’ mental health, tackling this year’s financial deficit or adjusting planning in light of student numbers control. All this is set within a context of limited guidance where no one really knows the best course of action.
The focus of this article is not, however, on the decisions made by university leaders.
Instead, our attention is on students in the final throes of making one of the biggest decisions of their lives so far. In a normal recruitment cycle, prospective students are able to scrutinise every aspect of the university through a wide range of resources. We know from UCAS’s New Applicant Survey that prospective students rely on open days as one of the primary mechanisms for making their final university selection …