Degree values ‘hit by offers from colleges’
DEGREE VALUES could be undermined by a pressure on universities to get students through the doors, unions have warned, as debate grows over the use of unconditional offers.
Thousands of students across the region are to face clearing options after receiving their Alevel results yesterday following months of hard work. The proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades has soared to its highest level for six years, with more than one in four gaining an A or A.
But, as it emerges that fewer students have been accepted on degree courses at UK universities this year, debate deepens over the use of unconditional offers – up from 3,000 five years ago to nearly 68,000 this year.
“Unconditional offers used to be exceptional,” said Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. “It starts to ask questions about why they are being used. It can smack of a ‘filling seats’ mentality. Our worry is that it doesn’t show students how to earn their place through effort and it can result in some students taking their foot off the gas. It undermines the system that we have traditionally had, whereby to gain places you have to show the knowledge and ability through results.”
The Ucas figures show that a record 27.9 per cent of the 18-yearold population has been accepted on to courses. Some 16.1 per cent of those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have been accepted - up 0.4 percentage points.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “The great majority of offers are not unconditional offers. I am concerned about the rate of growth that we have seen in unconditional offers and what that might indicate. That’s why the Office for Students is looking carefully at this issue and they will come back with their findings and they will make recommendations if anything further needs to be done.”
A RISING number of students have taken the top A-level grades in Yorkshire, analysis has revealed, as the pass rate for the region dips overall.
Nearly one in four students in the region have been awarded A* or A grades, at 24.4 per cent. And among a record set of results for some areas, there have been some exceptional stories of achievement and success.
In York, a student with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has won a place at university after being allowed to sit her A-levels at home.
Katie Livings, 18, achieved an A* in Extended Project Qualification writing about the illness she has suffered for the last five years, As in History and French and a B in English. Those grades will allow the 18-year-old from Clifton to enrol at the University of Kent to study Law and French Law.
“I was not expecting those grades so I am really happy,” she said. “I missed a lot of school but they were so good and really supportive.”
Hipperholme Grammar School pupil, Olivia Pearson, who represented Yorkshire Girls in golf, is a step closer towards her professional dream following some impressive results. Having achieved A*s in geography and sports studies as well as an A in biology to get the results needed to study Golf Management at Birmingham University from September.
At Harrogate Grammar School, 60 per cent of all A Level grades were at A*-B. Among the top performing were Jacob Dale, securing four A*, who will go on to study at Cambridge University.
And Ripon Grammar School saw its best ever set of A-Level results with 79.5 per cent at A*-B grades with over half at A* and A.
Headmaster Jonathan Webb said: “I am delighted with these results and, delighted to see so many smiles this morning. Behind the statistics there is always such a range of individual success stories. The students have worked supremely hard and deserve every congratulation.”
Rossett School, in Harrogate, saw a strong performance in its traditional subjects, with more than 44 per cent of the results in English Literature being at the top level, alongside 40 per cent in mathematics.
“Despite the annual backdrop of national press coverage that either calls into question the rigour of examinations, or the possible compromises in pass rates, the real story in schools up and down the country is the success of individual students in achieving their personal best results,” said headteacher Helen Woodcock. “Today is a time for us to celebrate.”