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On the same day that record numbers of students won places at UK universities, new research suggests that the institutions may have to reduce their £9,000 fees to maintain such high attendance figures.

Yesterday was A-Level results day for hundreds of thousands of British teenagers, many of whom were waiting anxiously to find out if they had been accepted on to their first choice university course. Despite record pass levels, and more university places than ever, thousands were left disappointed due to the unprecedented number of Higher Education applications. However, education experts are already warning that universities will begin to struggle to fill their courses if they start charging £9,000 per year from 2012.

A Day of Record Results

A-Levels are the last exams pupils take in the UK whilst still at school, and are used as the main academic measure for university entry. For the 29th year in a row, A-Level passes rose (to 97.8%), though for the first time in 14 years, the proportion of A and A* grades did not improve on the previous year's (27%). However, the record grades alone have not assured students of a place at university, as they have been matched by record university applications.

A new survey has revealed that more students at English universities and colleges are happy with their courses than ever before. Released by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the results show that 83% of final year students were ‘satisfied' with their education experience, whilst just 9% were dissatisfied.

Top Marks

The annual National Student Survey has been running for seven years and aims to not only show the general satisfaction of students in the UK, but also highlight where universities can improve the experience they offer. The questions are put to students finishing the final year of their course and are based on their entire higher education experience. Seven different categories are covered by the survey, including quality of teaching (which satisfied 84% of students) and academic support (77% satisfied).

Overall, every single category had either a higher or equal satisfaction rate compared to 2010; a point that the Minister for Universities David Willetts was quick to praise:

"This survey shows that student satisfaction is high on average. This is welcome news. No wonder record numbers of young people at home and abroad wish to study at our world-class universities".

The victim in one of the videos of the London riots that has most shocked the British public has been revealed as a Malaysian international student. The video shows Asyraf Haziq sitting dazed and bleeding on a London pavement, before it appears that he is helped up by one of the rioters. However, as he is being held up, another of the young rioters opens his rucksack, searches through it and pulls out his mobile phone and wallet, walking off with both of them.

The shocking scene was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube, where it has already been viewed over a million times and played on repeat on British news channels.

Last night marked the fourth day of riots in Britain, with the focus turning away from London, and towards Manchester, Birmingham and a whole host of other UK cities. Now familiar scenes played out as rioters looted shops, set fire to buildings and attacked police, leading to 479 arrests and, for the first time, three deaths.

The Spread of Violence

The long list of towns and cities affected by violence last night includes Manchester, Salford, Birmingham, Gloucester, Nottingham, Liverpool, Leicester, Bristol, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich, encompassing the South-West, Midlands and North-West of England. Whilst the biggest numbers of rioters were seen in Manchester, some of the most shocking scenes were elsewhere.

In Nottingham, a police station was set alight by a group of 30 to 40 men who firebombed it at around 10pm, though there were no injuries. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for Birmingham, where three men lost their lives after they were hit by a car. It is thought that they had been protecting their neighbourhood from the rioters, and their deaths are being treated as murder, although it is currently unclear whether the collision was directly related to the riots.

Riots that started in small pockets of London on Saturday night, had last night spread throughout much of the Capital as well as to several other cities in the UK. Buildings and cars were set on fire, shops were looted and police were attacked in what are being called the worst riots in living memory.

It all started in Hackney, in East London, as early as 5pm yesterday afternoon, as young people, many of them teenagers, clashed with police. It quickly escalated and spread throughout the Capital as the police struggled to control the widespread violence. By midnight, huge fires blazed and shops had been emptied of their goods in Croydon, Peckham, Lewisham and Clapham in the South of London, Enfield in the North and Ealing in the West.