This week, incoming students faced double pain as tens of thousands are expected to lose their college places – then struggle to find replacements.
Daily Mail analysis shows competition to win courses Clearing courses on A-level results day will be fiercest in years, with some predicting worse levels of memory decline best.
Figures reveal the number of last-minute courses at elite Russell Group universities has halved in just two years. It means that people who don’t get the score needed for their first choice course are likely to be disappointed again when they try to find an alternative.
Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘This is going to be one of the most competitive years, and probably the most competitive year ever.’
Tens of thousands of school leavers face pain this week as they are expected to lose their first choice college places and then struggle to find replacements.
And Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, warns: ‘If students drop their grades when they get their results, they’re going to have to really fight for a place. The guarantees of previous years are gone. ‘
Mr. Major said even students who got good grades found it difficult to get the clear courses they wanted. For those who fail, it can have major consequences for their future. ‘
Teens will receive their A-level results on Thursday after taking the traditional exam this year for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
However, up to 60,000 papers are expected to fall short of predicted scores due to harsher grading as officials try to slow rampant inflation.
Completion is a second chance for students to secure a college place, matching them with unrealized degree courses through the Ucas website. But there will be fewer elite places, in part because of the record number of 18-year-olds applying this year. Universities are also trying to regain control of numbers after a spike in the past two years.
For this reason, many educational institutions encouraged thousands of A-level students to postpone their entry last year, so they will take up points this year.
Mr Major added: ‘There was a limited number and that was driven by the fact that universities were hiring too much last year. There is also a demographic boom in 18-year-olds. ‘
Yesterday, university leaders warned the lucrative drive to recruit international students could also contribute to the squeeze. While the number of international students at Russell Group campuses has skyrocketed, the proportion of UK students rejected by these universities has increased. A Daily Mail analysis revealed that at the end of last week, only 2,353 full-time undergraduate courses at 17 of 24 Russell Group universities were advertised to students in the UK through pre-term deletion. fruit.
That’s a 24% drop in courses available compared to a similar snapshot survey conducted five days before A-level results were released last year. In 2021, 3,085 degree courses at the top 15 universities will be available to students in the UK through Clearing. The number of top Clearing courses is down 48% in 2020, as 4,509 courses were advertised at 17 Russell Group universities a week before A-level results.
Many institutions encouraged thousands of A-level students to defer their places last year, so they will take points this year
Last year, a record 44.8% of entries were rated A or A*, compared with 38.6% in 2020 and 25.5% in 2019. Around 19.1% of entries scored A* in 2018. 2021, up from 14.4% in 2020 and 7.8% in 2019.
Ofqual has announced this year’s grade boundaries will be roughly set between 2019 and 2021 pre-pandemic levels, when teacher assessments are used to establish grades.
A report, Return to Exams, published by Mr Smithers on Saturday, estimates that around 13.5% of entries will be graded A* and 35% A or A*. These numbers equate to about 82,500 fewer A* and A grades than last year. The report said that if each candidate failed on average in two subjects, more than 40,000 ‘would be at risk of losing their first place’. But that number could be as high as 60,000.
Mark Corver, of consulting firm DataHE, says students may need ‘a little more flexibility in terms of subject or university than in previous years’. Last night, DataHE analysis published in The Guardian found that 28,000 A-level students applying to university remained uninvited. This compares to just 16,000 at this stage of the admissions process in 2019.
A spokesman for the Russell Group said universities were ‘working hard to create opportunities for as many people to study with them as possible’.
