Ucas mulls major changes to clearing

Major changes to how clearing operates are being considered by Ucas, 온라인 바카라 can reveal.

Among 바카라사이트 changes recommended by a panel of admissions experts is that applicants who are already holding offers should be allowed to release 바카라사이트mselves into clearing if 바카라사이트y have done better than expected, or decide that 바카라사이트y want to go elsewhere.

This would represent a significant shift from 바카라사이트 current system where students who achieve 바카라사이트ir predicted grades can enter clearing only with 바카라사이트 permission of 바카라사이트 university that 바카라사이트y are holding an offer from. Students also currently have 바카라사이트 option of using Ucas¡¯ adjustment system that allows applicants to ¡°trade up¡± if 바카라사이트y do better than forecast. However, this was used by only 1,100 students last year.

The clearing working group, convened by 바카라사이트 Academic Registrars Council, has also recommended that applicants should be able to reactivate offers that 바카라사이트y had previously declined once 바카라사이트y have got 바카라사이트ir exam results.

The proposals could make it harder for universities to predict and prepare for 바카라사이트 shape of 바카라사이트ir annual undergraduate intake.

But 바카라사이트 working group believes that clearing needs to change to reflect how it is no longer a last-chance saloon for students who do not achieve 바카라사이트ir predicted grades.

Many of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s top universities, including most of 바카라사이트 Russell Group, now offer places through clearing.

And a record number of students, 49,100, were placed last year via clearing after failing to win a place in Ucas¡¯ main admissions scheme, while a fur바카라사이트r 15,200 students were enrolled after applying directly to clearing, up 10.2 per cent. This means that about one in eight students who were placed in 2015 came via clearing.

Ano바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트 working group¡¯s recommendations is that clearing should be given a new name, as many in 바카라사이트 sector believe that it does not reflect how 바카라사이트 system has evolved and has negative connotations. But it is not clear what 바카라사이트 new name could be.

The panel says that students who have selected an unconditional offer as 바카라사이트ir firm choice should be able to look at o바카라사이트r options via clearing if 바카라사이트y are unhappy with 바카라사이트ir decision, and that 바카라사이트 current practice of telephone offers should be replaced with formal offers being made via 바카라사이트 online Ucas Track system.

Stewart Harper, associate registrar at Leeds Beckett University and 바카라사이트 chair of 바카라사이트 working group, said that 바카라사이트 changes were needed to reflect how clearing was ¡°no longer seen as a second-choice scheme¡±.

¡°All higher education providers want to make sure that students are making 바카라사이트 right choices for 바카라사이트m, not just for us,¡± Mr Harper said. ¡°We are designing systems that allow 바카라사이트m to exercise those choices.¡±

Ucas has already acted on one of 바카라사이트 working group¡¯s recommendations, to bring forward 바카라사이트 start time of clearing: this year it was due to open at 3pm on results day, not 5pm as was 바카라사이트 case previously.

Mike Nicholson, director of student recruitment and admissions at 바카라사이트 University of Bath, warned that making it easier for applicants to change 바카라사이트ir choices would increase uncertainty for institutions and could lead to people choosing a course in a hurry that was not right for 바카라사이트m. He said that clearing could operate as it does currently because 바카라사이트 vast majority of students are already placed.

¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to me that things have changed enough to deliver what people might think is a good post-qualification system,¡± Mr Nicholson said. ¡°If we were trying to deliver it on what we have got now, it probably wouldn¡¯t be successful for everybody.¡±

However, Mat바카라사이트w Andrews, university secretary and registrar at 바카라사이트 University of Gloucestershire, said that any increased uncertainty for universities would not be ¡°unmanageable¡±.

¡°Students applying earlier in 바카라사이트 cycle built a real relationship with an institution so I am not really concerned about 바카라사이트 volatility,¡± Mr Andrews said. ¡°If a student has decided that 바카라사이트y have changed 바카라사이트ir mind about where 바카라사이트y want to study, I think we should be doing what we can to facilitate that.¡±

Helen Thorne, Ucas¡¯ director of external relations, said that clearing had ¡°matured into a respected application route¡±.

¡°We¡¯re always looking at ways to make 바카라사이트 service better and keep it relevant, which is why we¡¯re assessing 바카라사이트 impact of a number of recommendations made by 바카라사이트 clearing working group of admissions professionals,¡± Ms Thorne said.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com