A record after almost twenty years. FPE reports a sharp increase in applications

The Faculty of Education has received almost five thousand applications for study this year. That is 17 percent more than last year. Applicant interest is therefore at its highest level since 2007. For FPE, this is a clear signal that teaching is once again attracting young people's attention.

Interest in studying teaching in Pilsen is rising sharply. This year, the Faculty of Education at the University of West Bohemia recorded around 4,800 applications, the highest number in the past nineteen years. The last time the number of applications reached a similarly high level was in 2007, when the faculty still offered a significantly broader portfolio of study programmes. “This year represents the highest increase in applications in the entire time series we have been monitoring so far,” said FPE Dean Pavel Mentlík.

Year on year, the number of applications has increased by more than 17 percent. The number of individual applicants, meaning the specific young people applying to the faculty, is also growing. Compared with last year, their number has risen by almost 14 percent. Applications and applicants are evaluated separately, as one applicant may submit several applications for different study programmes. According to Dean Mentlík, the record level of interest is the result of a combination of several factors: “Stronger population cohorts, a changing perception of the teaching profession and the faculty’s systematic work with secondary school students. It is precisely direct contact with applicants and long-term activities at schools that are beginning to have a significant impact on actual interest.”

Current data also show that interest remains very strong in the programmes that have traditionally been the most popular. The highest number of applications has long been recorded for Primary School Teaching, Kindergarten Teaching, and English with a Focus on Education. These programmes have the largest applicant base, and interest in them continues to grow year on year by approximately 11-15 percent. However, there have been significant changes in the structure of applications. Mathematics and chemistry have received more than twice as many applications this year as last. At the same time, interest in computer science and German has increased by around 80 percent, and physics is up by 48 percent. According to the FPE dean, the figures show that applicants are also responding to the specific needs of schools and society. Interest is growing particularly strongly in fields in which schools have long faced shortages.

The faculty recorded the highest percentage increase in applications this year in the bachelor’s programme focused on the Russian language. Compared with last year, the number has more than tripled. Interest is also growing significantly in the study programme focused on physical activity and a healthy lifestyle in Karlovy Vary, where the faculty recorded a 77 percent increase.

The faculty leadership, however, interprets the record figures realistically. An application does not yet mean a confirmed student. As Dean Pavel Mentlík summarises on his blog, FPE is still in the middle of the process. In the coming weeks, the results of the admissions procedure, applicants’ choices between several universities and enrolment itself will still play a decisive role.