Parents better placed to help

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PARENTS have been allowed to manage their children’s university applications for the first time this year by admissions service Ucas.

One in 10 of the 500,000 university applicants this year have ticked a box on their Ucas form naming a parent or guardian as their agent.

A spokesman for Ucas said: “Our customer service tells us anecdotally that, for the most part, it’s when son or daughter has called that their parent calls back to ask further questions.

“There are some of what you might call pushy parents using this option.

“With half-a-million applicants a year, some are very, very strong-minded and independent, and others want their parents to do the work.”

Margaret Morrissey, from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, added: “I welcome the universities’ acknowledgement that it’s us, as parents, who pay the fees and we have a right to know what’s going on.

“But we’ve got to be really, really careful we don’t take away the ability of youngsters to find their own responsibility.

“University is about learning how to be independent, and that should be protected.”