The two pie charts illustrate the main reasons why students were selected in five different categories in one particular university in the UK from 1987 to 2007. Overall, the proportion of choosing a university close to the parental home increased significantly over the given period.
Notably, good sports/social activities and quality of resources witnessed a dramatic decline in the final year. Meanwhile, suitable degree courses remained the most common reason in both years. In addition, the chart divides the main reasons for students choosing university, of which suitable degree courses takes up the largest share in both charts.
In 1987, suitable degree courses accounted for the largest category with 35% choosing it. Quality of resources ranked second at 21%, closely followed by good sports and social activities at 19%. Additionally, the quality of teaching made up 15% of the choices, while the quality of teaching shared ten out of one piece. In 2007, the figure for suitable degree courses increased slightly to 37%, while quality of teaching also rose to 18%. However, the proportion of students choosing a university because it was close to home more than doubled to 22%.
In contrast, quality of resources and good sports/social activities decreased sharply to 17% and 6% respectively.