Sunday 14 August 2022 10:07 PM Number of Clearing places at Russell Group colleges halves as worst squeeze in ... trends now

Sunday 14 August 2022 10:07 PM Number of Clearing places at Russell Group colleges halves as worst squeeze in ... trends now
Sunday 14 August 2022 10:07 PM Number of Clearing places at Russell Group colleges halves as worst squeeze in ... trends now

Sunday 14 August 2022 10:07 PM Number of Clearing places at Russell Group colleges halves as worst squeeze in ... trends now

School-leavers face double heartbreak this week as tens of thousands are expected to lose their university place – then struggle to find a replacement.

Analysis by the Daily Mail shows competition to snap up Clearing courses on A-level results day will be the fiercest it has been in years, with some predicting the worst squeeze in living memory.

Figures reveal the number of last-minute courses available at elite Russell Group universities has halved in just two years. It means those who fail to achieve the grades 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 Buckingham University, said: ‘It will be one of the most competitive years, and probably the most competitive year ever.’

Tens of thousands of school-leavers face heartbreak this week as they are expected to lose their first choice university place and then struggle to find a replacement

Tens of thousands of school-leavers face heartbreak this week as they are expected to lose their first choice university place and then struggle to find a replacement

And Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, warned: ‘If students drop a grade when they get their results, they will have to really fight for places. The guarantees of previous years will no longer be in place.’

Universities shutting out UK students

Top universities are rejecting UK students as they look abroad to fill their coffers, it was warned yesterday.

A record number of British teenagers have been shut out by elite universities and it is feared admissions tutors may be taking international students instead.

While UK students only pay fees of £9,250 a year, those from other countries pay more than double – an average of £24,000.

Figures suggest the most selective institutions, including Oxbridge, turned away nearly four in ten UK candidates who applied this year, the biggest rejection rate ever recorded.

At the same time, the proportion of entrants to Russell Group universities that pay the higher international level of fees has soared. Last year it hit 23 per cent – the highest ever level – compared to 12 per cent in 2006.

Yesterday university leaders said ‘high-tariff’ institutions – those that ask for the best grades such as the Russell Group – are increasingly recruiting for India and China.

Sir Chris Husbands, vice-chancellor at Sheffield Hallam University, told the Sunday Times such institutions are ‘pulling back from the UK market because they can charge higher prices in international markets’.

Nearly 70 per cent of students at the London School of Economics are now from overseas. The Department for Education said: ‘UK students take up the vast majority of places on university undergraduate courses so it is not right to suggest.... [this factor] has caused a squeeze of places.’

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Mr Major said even pupils who achieve high grades will find

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