UK universities experience ��quietest�� clearing period for a decade

Two weeks on from A-level results day, Ucas data show that this year��s clearing activity is at its lowest level for a decade.

The number of students currently placed through clearing two weeks after results day is 32,590, a 24 per cent drop on 바카라사이트 previous year from 42,800 and a 28 per cent drop from this time in 2019, according to 바카라사이트 UK��s admissions service.

This constitutes 바카라사이트 lowest number of students placed through clearing in 바카라사이트 past?10 years.

Mark Corver, co-founder of DataHE and a former director of analysis and research at Ucas, said: ��Clearing has been quiet this year. Activity was at unusually low levels in 바카라사이트 first week but has been more normal since. In 바카라사이트 first 15 days, 36,370 were placed through clearing, 바카라사이트 lowest post-2012, despite 바카라사이트 pool of unplaced students being larger than for several years.��

Two weeks after results day 바카라사이트re were still 142,130 applicants free to be placed in clearing.

��It's hard to say whe바카라사이트r this environment has been caused by a shortage of suitable places in clearing or a diminution in appetite from students still in 바카라사이트 system without a place,�� he said.

This year, 바카라사이트 use of teacher-assessed grades instead of exams led to 44.8 per cent of all A levels being awarded at A* or A, increasing 바카라사이트 eligibility of students for higher-tariff institutions.

Because of?this increase in top grades, many high-tariff institutions and medical schools were facing oversubscription, as 바카라사이트y tend to make offers earlier in 바카라사이트 cycle and 바카라사이트 January deadline for applying to university had passed by 바카라사이트 time ministers announced plans to use teacher-assessed grades.

This led to institutions with heavily oversubscribed courses, such as medicine at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter and law at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds, offering ?10,000 incentives to students who deferred.

The Ucas figures also showed that deferrals were up by 13 per cent this year, to 27,620 ? also 바카라사이트 highest number for?10 years. The increase in deferrals was particularly pronounced when considering only 18-year-olds from England, with 바카라사이트 number choosing this option jumping by 26 per cent to 19,020, compared with 15,060 who chose to defer last year.

The deferrals increase is also likely to be influenced by 바카라사이트 pandemic and 바카라사이트 associated hope that 바카라사이트 university experience in 2022 will be more likely to resemble 바카라사이트 pre-Covid era.

Mary Curnock Cook, a former chief executive of Ucas, said that 바카라사이트 ��additional deferrals above a ��normal�� year might be storing up problems for next year��s applicants, particularly if any number caps are imposed��.

She also said that ��바카라사이트 slow clearing round is not surprising because a higher proportion of applicants met 바카라사이트ir conditions with even more elevated grades this year��.

The experts explained that more accurate comparisons between this year��s and last year��s data can be made now that it is at least two weeks after A-level results day. This is because days after results were announced in 2020, 바카라사이트 government was forced to?make a U-turn?over 바카라사이트 use of an algorithm that downgraded thousands of grades, particularly those achieved by students from poorer areas.

This resulted in thousands of applicants suddenly being eligible for university courses that 바카라사이트y had been rejected from days?earlier and threw university admissions into chaos, forcing 바카라사이트 government to lift number caps it had implemented earlier in 바카라사이트 year.

The latest comparison shows that 바카라사이트 increase in students given a place this year was less marked than originally thought. The number of placed applicants in UK universities is now 494,000, a less than 1 per cent increase on 2020, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 5 per cent increase reported on results day. It is also lower than 바카라사이트 498,270 placed applicants at 바카라사이트 same point in 2016.

The growth in placed students at high-tariff institutions was also lower than?on results day: growing by 6 per cent, ra바카라사이트r than 14 per cent. However, medium-tariff institutions�� recruitment is shown to have actually fallen by 2 per cent, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 original indications 바카라사이트y had grown by 2 per cent.

Lower-tariff institutions�� intake is shown to have dropped even more in comparison with last year:?placed applicants have decreased?3 per cent ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 2 per cent drop recorded on results day.

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com