A-level results 2023: Huge scramble for clearing places as number of students accepted on to UK degree courses plunges

A HUGE scramble for UCAS clearing places has begun after 9% of pupils missed out on their top university choice today.

New data showed the number of students accepted onto UK degree courses fell 2.2% on last year, with only 414,940 taking up places so far.

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Pupils in Worthing, West Sussex, receive their A-Level results[/caption]

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The number of students accepted onto UK degree courses has fallen 2.2% on last year[/caption]

Approximately 79% of pupils bagged their first choice course, down from 81% in 2022.

And 12% have been placed at their insurance choice, a drop from 14% in 2019, but up from 11% in 2022.

As feared by ministers, the gap between rich and poor students going to university will now slightly widen.

For every disadvantaged student, 2.30 advantaged students progress to higher education, compared to 2.29 last year.

There are now 29,000 courses available in clearing alongside around 8,000 apprenticeships.

UCAS Chief Executive Clare Marchant said: “Today’s data shows that challenges in widening participation to the most disadvantaged students still persist.

“This demonstrates that we all need to continue the efforts to ensure the most disadvantaged individuals in society are able to benefit from life-changing opportunities in higher education and training, particularly as the 18-year-old population grows.”

The number of international students accepted onto UK courses dropped by 2.3%.

China, India and Hong Kong were the top three countries with placed applicants.

Ms Marchant told the BBC this morning that pupils accepted to their top choice university should “just go out and celebrate”.

And those who missed out should “just think about your next step”.

She added: “There is plenty of choice.

“The really key thing if you’re students or a parent, or guardian, is to just take a little bit of time.

“If you haven’t already done the research to think through what’s right for you.”

Amid concerns about post-pandemic grade deflation, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted pupils this year will “still get the same access to university” as those before them.

She told Sky News: “The whole grading system will be back to normal and so the universities will calibrate to that.

“And in fact they already have done so in their offers to some degree – they have already taken that into account.

“So we have worked with the universities so they understand it, with the admissions officers. And also with businesses, so they understand it.

“Everybody knows that these are different conditions to the teacher-assessed grades and even last year, which was part way between the two systems, more similar to what they have done in Northern Ireland and Wales.”