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Newham and Tower Hamlets students celebrate Clearing success at UEL

Monday 21 August 2006

Newham and Tower Hamlets residents are among hundreds of students from across London, around the UK and worldwide celebrating after gaining places to study degrees at the University of East London (UEL). Many more applicants are expected to secure their places over the next few days.

Zakia Khan, 18, of the Isle of Dogs, gained a place on UEL’s BA (Hons) degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Zakia, who took A-levels in English, Psychology and Business Studies at George Green VI Form, said: “I was disappointed with my results but UEL – my first choice university – still accepted me and I’m now even more motivated to do well in my degree. I spoke to someone in UEL’s School of Law who was really nice and left me very excited about going to university.”

Dinesh Ramchandani, 19, of Monega Road, Forest Gate, was delighted to secure his place on UEL’s BA (Hons) degree in Media Studies. Dinesh, who took A-levels in Media Studies, Business Studies and Sociology at Newham VI Form College, said: "UEL is close to home and I’ve read a lot of good things about it in newspapers lately. It looks like a really appealing and inspiring environment. The Clearing process was excellent – I was offered a place within five minutes. I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was, and I’m really looking forward to starting at UEL in September.”

Rukia Nsubuga, 26, of Forest Gate, has been accepted onto UEL’s BSc (Hons) degree in Finance, Money and Banking. Rukia, who achieved a B, C and D in her A-levels at Newham College, said: “I’ve always wanted to work in finance so I’m very happy to have been accepted. I’ve recently had a baby girl, but I’m really looking forward to the challenge of studying while bringing her up.”

Over 7,400 phone enquiries were received by UEL admissions staff during the first three days of the Clearing period, up more than 15% from last year. The clearing page of UEL’s web site received over 14,000 distinct page viewings during the same period, an increase of over 40% from 2005.

Professor Michael Thorne, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East London said: "We have been impressed by the high quality of applications we have received so far, and we look forward to filling most of our places over the next few days.

“All year, our applications have been consistently higher than the national average, and it is welcome to see that encouraging level sustained this week. It shows that UEL is increasingly seen as the university of choice, not just among young people from East London, but from across the UK.”

UEL’s open advice and access centres at Docklands and Stratford have been busy throughout the first days of Clearing, with hundreds of visitors doing on-the-spot interviews, touring the campus facilities and receiving guidance from specialist advisers and current students.

The NHS-accredited BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy degree, based at UEL’s expanding School of Health and Bioscience, is already full, with over 100 places taken and applicants now joining a waiting list. There are still a limited number of places left on the BSc (Hons) Podiatry degree, housed in the new Centre for Clinical Education in Podiatry, Physiotherapy and Sports Science at Stratford.

Applications for Health and Sports Science programmes are significantly up, and have been boosted by the 'Olympic effect', with enquiries coming in from all over the world. Senior lecturer James Johnson said: "We have been incredibly busy, with lots of well-qualified applicants."

Law, Criminology, Psychology and undergraduate programmes in Education are also proving increasingly popular, with many students opting to study part-time in the evening.

At UEL’s Docklands campus, highly-rated programmes including Architecture, Fashion and Textiles have received hundreds of enquiries, and demand is high for subjects including Digital Arts and Visual Communication, Media and Advertising, Multimedia, Communications and Information Technology, Business and Computing.

John Sparrowhawk, senior lecturer at UEL Business School, said: “We’ve already made well over 100 offers, and Business Studies, International Business and Marketing have proved particularly popular. With our brand-new Business School building and our expanding range of programmes, this year’s a very exciting time to be starting a business degree at UEL.”

Ray Ruocco, Clearing manager for the School of Computing and Technology, said: “The first day of Clearing was extremely busy, with our enquiries up 15% from last year. The quality of applicants has also been high, with many of them especially interested in our computing programmes, including the new BSc (Hons) degree in Information Security Systems.”

UEL currently has a record total of over 20,000 students enrolled, an increase of 80% over the past five years.

For full details of all programmes and up-to-date availability of places, contact 020 8223 3333 or log on to www.uel.ac.uk/clearing

 

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For details and pictures contact Patrick Wilson: 020 8223 2061 or 07951 797 975

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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