Thursday 18 August 2022 11:19 PM Scramble for university places as 43,000 pupils struggle to find a course amid ... trends now
Tens of thousands of A-level pupils were desperately trying to find a university place last night after a record drop in grades.
More than 43,000 ended up without a guaranteed place – the highest number in a decade – following a post-pandemic crackdown on grade inflation and a higher than usual number of applications.
It means pupils face a frantic scramble in the coming days to find places via Clearing – the process through which universities fill remaining spaces on courses.
To compound the problem, there are far fewer Clearing courses available at top universities this year than there have been previously.
The shortage of places also coincides with a huge rise in the number of foreign students, who pay higher tuition fees.
Pupils face a frantic scramble over the coming days to find places via Clearing - the process through which universities fill their remaining places. Pictured, students at Norwich School
At the most elite universities, there was a 7 per cent rise in acceptances for international students, despite the institutions accepting 10 per cent fewer students overall. Yesterday admissions tutors frantically took calls from pupils scrambling for last-minute places – leading the phone lines to break down at one university.
Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: ‘This year is probably the hardest ever to get your first choice university place if your grades don’t immediately meet the university’s requirements. There’s intense competition for the top courses at the top universities. Students may not get something which is equivalent to the sort of place they were aspiring to.’
He added: ‘Universities are actively out there recruiting overseas students because they bring much higher fees into the universities than home students.’
More than half a million teenagers picked up their results yesterday after sitting exams in a traditional manner for the first time since the pandemic.
On a record-breaking results day, boys started catching up with girls’ grades with the return of formal testing, while private schools lost some of their lead over other schools, leading to accusations that teachers may have inflated grades last year.
The return to exams this year has led to a drop in grades as officials try to curb grade inflation of the pandemic years, when generous teachers were entrusted to give out grades.
Now marking is being brought back in line with 2019 levels in two steps, with a further drop planned for next year.
Yesterday’s figures showed more than 60,000 fewer entries were graded A or A* this
