Record number of school leavers in England take university places | Universities

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Record numbers of school leavers are flocking to England to snap up university places and fill gaps left by the collapse in student applications in the European Union, according to the latest data.

The number of students accepting a place exceeded last year’s record, with 435,000 students finding places within a day of receiving their A-level results, an increase of 5,000 from last year, according to data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas).

This year, 149,000 students were still looking for places the day after A-level results, up 15% from 2020. And 11,000 students have already found places, including those who applied directly to the clearinghouse.

The fastest growth in admissions is at the leading universities, which have already accepted 20,000 more students than in previous years after a record number of students had the highest grades in their A-levels.

Additional students residing in the UK fill some of the spaces normally occupied by people from the European Union. Admissions from EU students have been cut in half for this fall, which will be the first year that EU-based students without a British passport will be required to pay much higher international fees.

The decline was also partially offset this year by a 9% increase in admissions for non-EU students from outside the UK.

Admissions officials warn that there is a shortage of places on the most popular courses at the most competitive universities, and any remaining places are expected to be filled very quickly.

Tracey Lancaster, vice-chancellor at Leeds Beckett University, said there were “various forces at play” in this year’s release, with students who narrowly missed their grades receiving unexpected rejections from universities that would normally accept them, leaving them ill-prepared. for clearing. The other students are doing better than expected but they are struggling to trade due to the lack of places on some of the courses.

“You see more people needing information and support, having seen an increase in social media activity from three to four years. We have seen more people turn to phones for help because their situation is a bit more complex,” she said.

The higher numbers in the clearing come despite more students accepting an offer of their first choice, with a 7% increase in students’ ability to take their places compared to last year.

There was also a greater rise in students from wealthier ZIP codes rapidly taking up places at the university, with 9% finding more places within a day compared to 6% from the poorest areas.

The gap between grades in public and private schools has grown to the widest in modern times this year, confirming predictions that grades given by a teacher will exacerbate inequality.

The numbers also show an increase of 36%, to 6000, of sixth-grade players in England holding offers who choose to postpone. This may be due in part to a 10% increase in applications, as well as to students who scored higher than expected, and chose to re-apply, or due to oversubscription to courses.

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