4,800 courses still to fill as top universities scramble for students
‘Wide selection to choose from’
MORE than 4,800 courses are on offer at top universities through clearing today – a 60 per cent rise in four years.
A Daily Mail audit has revealed an unprecedented number of courses are on offer on A-level results day for those who don’t make their grades as institutions scramble to attract students.
Among the courses on offer at Russell Group universities are English at Exeter, economics at York and law and medicine at Liverpool.
Overall more than 100 institutions are offering courses through clearing, meaning ten of thousands of teenagers could secure places.
It comes after caps on the number of places universities can offer have been lifted. This has come at the same time as a fall in applications.
Despite reforms to make exams tougher, one in four A-level qualifications are expected to be awarded an A or A* – the same as last year.
This is because exams regulator Ofqual is expected to set the grade boundaries lower to make sure this year’s cohort are not disadvantaged. It means fewer students than feared will miss out on their predicted results. However, for those who do there will be a wide selection of courses to choose from.
Some universities have hundreds of courses with vacancies. Of the 24 in the elite Russell group, 19 have said they may – or will – have vacancies in clearing this year. Only Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, the London School of Economics and Imperial College will not enter clearing.
But UCL has said it may have places available via ‘adjustment’ – a process that allows those who do better than predicted to ‘trade up’. Three of the group – Nottingham, Queen’s University Belfast and Newcastle – have said they may consider lowering entry requirements for those applying via clearing.
In total, 4,847 courses at Russell Group universities were advertising vacancies on the Ucas clearing website last night. This is a rise of around 60 per cent on the 3,000 courses avail- able on results day in 2013. Jessica Cole, Russell Group head of policy, said institutions ‘want to attract talented and able students from all backgrounds’.
Across all universities, there were 27,715 courses listed, according to a Press Association survey of 148 institutions.
Last year, almost 65,000 found places through clearing.
There has been a drop in applications to start degree courses this autumn, fuelled by factors including a fall in the 18 and 19year-old population, changes to funding for nursing degrees and in EU student numbers. Coupled with reforms on student numbers, it means many institutions are entering clearing in a bid to fill places.
Overall, 649,700 people had applied to start degree courses by June 30, down 25,190 – 4 per cent – on last year, Ucas figures show.