Students taking degrees after A-level failure

ALMOST half of school-leavers were accepted on to degree courses this year with A-level grades lower than the advertised entry requirements.

Students from the poorest backgrounds were more likely to take up places with lower grades than advertised, according to figures published by Ucas.

This might be due to “contextualised offers”, in which an institution takes into account a student’s schooling and background when deciding on the offer it makes, the admission service said.

The latest data show that 49 per cent of 18-year-olds in England, Northern

Ireland and Wales, sitting at least three A-levels, were accepted on to courses with actual exam grades that were below the requirements advertised by the university for the course.

Institutions typically advertise standard grade requirements, for example on their website, for students to view when applying for courses.

The figures also show that this year, 60 per cent of applicants from the fifth most disadvantaged backgrounds were accepted on to courses with A-level grades below advertised requirements.

“Findings from the 2019 cycle suggest that applicants should not be deterred from applying to courses with challenging entry requirements,” Ucas said. “Universities and colleges frequently accept applicants who perform below their entry requirements. Encouragingly, this is most often experienced by disadvantaged applicants.”

Ucas’s report also says that around one in six (17 per cent) of the most disadvantaged students say they received a contextual offer. But many others are unaware that universities make these types of offers, it adds.

There have been concerns raised previously that students from poorer backgrounds are less likely to apply to courses with high entry requirements as they are worried they will not get the required grades.

Clare Marchant, Ucas’s chief executive, said: “Today’s report shows the unprecedented opportunity for anyone currently thinking of applying to university to be ambitious with their choices.

“The trends identified through our analysis are very likely to continue into this year, with universities, colleges, and schools continuing to support students from a variety of backgrounds.”

Claire Sosienski Smith, the vicepresident (higher education) at the National Union of Students, said: “We, of course, welcome the increase in offers and applicants this year, however the education sector cannot afford to be complacent.”

The report also shows a record 541,240 students were accepted on to undergraduate courses this year.

And it reveals the most advantaged students are around 2.3 times more likely to go into higher education than the most disadvantaged, but the most disadvantaged students are also now 61 per cent more likely to study for a degree than they were a decade ago.