Trying to freeze student numbers before temporarily boosting them again is a short-sighted and unsustainable policy.The government is having a second go at curbing the growth in the number of students in universities. A year ago, universities were told to freeze their intakes. But a build-up of stories later in the spring about well-qualified students being turned away persuaded ministers that political discretion was the better part of valour. So they allowed universities to take an additional 10,000 students – unfunded, of course, except for their fees.It is possible that ministers' nerve will crack again as Ucas applications inexorably mount up later in the year. Disappointing the upward aspirations of Middle England requires political nerve – and the general election will be safely out of the way by then. David Willetts has already promised the Conservatives will provide another 10,000 places – although he has not disclosed how.
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