TOUGH LESSON
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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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.
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However, 16,500 students on free school meals gained a place at university, a notable 60% rise from 2019 and 14% rise from 2022.
There are now 29,000 courses available in clearing alongside around 8,000 apprenticeships.
The UCAS website has reportedly crashed this morning as millions of pupils tried to log on to see their results.
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."
Rishi Sunak pointed to Jeremy Clarkson as an example of someone who succeeded despite getting poor results.
The PM said: "Jeremy has made a career of being the exception not the rule but he does have a good point here: Results day is important, but not necessarily a deal-breaker.
"Whatever results you got today, there are lots of options available to you."
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.
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"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."
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