University crisis over boom in top grades at A-level

ALMOST half of A-level pupils could be awarded at least two A grades next week after record-breaking grade inflation, universities say.

Admissions tutors are panicking after receiving A-level grades early and realising an unprecedented number of applicants have made the requirements for their place.

It means many courses have mistakenly overrecruited, with some now forced to offer money incentives for would-be students to defer.

In addition, the 24 universities of the Russell Group have fewer courses in offer in clearing because many are now full.

One university admissions officer said they were forecasting that top A* and A grades could be awarded to 45 per cent of entries, based on the results they had seen so far.

Last year more than 38 per cent of entries in England were awarded A or A*, a sharp increase on 25 per cent in 2019.

‘We’re seeing Bs turn into As and A*s... with the vast majority of applicants comfortably

‘Majority comfortably qualifying for offers’

qualifying for their offers,’ an official at one university told the Guardian. Mark Corver, an admissions analyst at dataHE, said last year’s rise in grades took average applicant results from BBB-BBC to close to ABB.

He said if reports from admissions officers hold up, average grades of applicants would rise this year to close to AAB, and around half of applicants would score this or better.

Last week it emerged Exeter University is offering cash incentives to medical students to defer a year after over-recruiting.

Teachers decided grades after exams were cancelled for a second year in a row, meaning most pupils will achieve predicted grades also set by their teachers.

Richard Harvey, academic director of admissions at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘It’s quite early in the cycle to be sure about grade inflation but the early signs are that it will be significant.’ He said some courses could expand, but this would ‘destabilise the British university system’ by taking students who might normally go to a lower-ranking university.