The sanctioning body establishes the rules that apply to the competition, including entry qualifications for all participants, operating procedures and judging criteria.
The latter change is most likely to attract extra young entrants with traditional entry qualifications, thus putting downward pressure on the proportion of mature students in the overall student body.
In fact, half of the increase in university applicants between 2008 and 2010 was accounted for by students with no officially recognised entry qualifications.
