Quality | 2010.08.19
Clearing scramble for remaining university places
Around 180,000 candidates chasing clearing places on day of record A-level results
A scramble for clearing places began today as many students celebrated getting into their chosen university while others discovered they had narrowly missed out. Some universities have rejected students who missed their offers by just one grade.
A total of 180,000 candidates are chasing places in clearing, compared with 135,000 last year according to Ucas.
There are around 18,500 courses with vacancies, Ucas said, down on 32,000 courses with vacancies last year. On some courses, such as business studies, there are more than 1,200 clearing places for UK and European Union students, while in chemistry and English literature there are barely more than 300. In history, there are more than 700 places through clearing, while there are more than 600 vacancies for law degrees, according to the Ucas website.
Many courses are now only available to overseas students, some of whom pay £20,000 for undergraduate degrees. The clearing listings have 316 economics courses available for home (UK) students, but 888 for international students. Law has 1,144 courses available to international students whereas there are only 634 for home students. Bristol University has 203 courses available to international applicants, but none open to UK or EU students.
Ucas has now processed all A-level results and as of midnight, a record 379,411 applicants were accepted into university or college, compared to 371,016 on results day last year. But applications to study at university surged to another record high this summer, and around 170,000 people have been predicted to miss out on a place on a degree course this autumn.
A-level pass rates today rose to another record high of 97.6% while an unprecedented 27% of entries achieved an A, in results which will sharpen the intense battle for clearing places at university this year.
The pass rate rose for the 28th successive year, in results published today for candidates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, increasing by 0.1% from 97.5% who passed at grades A to E in 2009.
An increased proportion of entries passed at grade A, including A*, which requires marks over 90% in a candidate\'s second year exams. Last year, 26.7% passed at grade A.
The increased proportion of A grades will intensify competition for university places. Nine of the elite Russell Group universities have said they will offer some places through clearing. Cardiff said it would have around 260 places available, Manchester 120 and Newcastle around 100.
Leading universities are split over whether to use the A*. Among the Russell Group, Cambridge has made A*AA its standard offer in most subjects, while Imperial has requested it in seven courses, UCL in four and Warwick in one.
But some top universities including Leeds have declined to use the A* this year, partly because of fears that private schools would perform disproportionately well. Oxford has declined to use it because of concern about the accuracy of teachers\' predictions.
Despite this, intense competition for places is driving universities to extend use of the grade. LSE will begin using it in six courses next year while Bristol plans to use it in three departments. Warwick will extend the A* to five courses and Imperial plans to ask for two A* grades from applicants for maths.
Examiners today highlighted a gap in achievement between north and south which will fuel concerns about the social make-up of universities.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said yesterday there were disproportionate numbers of middle-class students at universities. He described this an "educational apartheid", where the less fortunate lost out in the battle for university places and later jobs.
Pupils in the south-east, which accounted for 19% of entries, were awarded 23% of A* grades. By contrast, the north-east performed disproportionately poorly, with just 3% of A* from 4% of entries.
Andrew Hall, director-general of the AQA exam board, speculated this was because of the "mix of schools in the area" — apparently a reference to grammar schools in Kent and private schools in London.
The results showed that private schools did disproportionately well, getting 30% of the total number of A* grades when their pupils accounted for 14% of entries.
Comprehensive schools achieved 30% of the A* grades on 43% of entries.
The results are the first from reforms of A-levels which were intended to challenge the more able candidates with more complex questions.
The rise in the overall pass rate and the increased proportion to get an A will raise fresh concerns that standards have slipped.
Ziggy Liaquat, managing director of the Edexcel exam board, defended the results: "Teachers are working increasingly hard; students are more focussed, they have more access to information. I think we\'re seeing performance improve."
Education secretary Michael Gove plans to overhaul A-levels in a white paper due this autumn, and said last month that he would prefer fewer modules in sixth form so students have more scope for "deep thought".
Schools minister Nick Gibb said today: "All students who received their A and AS level results today know how hard they have worked and I\'d like to congratulate them on their achievement. A-levels are an important milestone in life and open up great opportunities for academic study in higher education and for future careers."
The minister said England had one of the "most stratified and segregated" school systems in the world.
"It is scandalous that of the 80,000 students in one year eligible for free school meals, just 45 got to Oxbridge."
The rise in the pass rate over the last three decades has prompted concerns that A-levels have got easier while candidates\' abilities have remained the same.
Research at Durham University has found that a candidate who would have got a C two decades ago would get an A now. The study by Dr Robert Coe found that "candidates of comparable ability are being awarded higher grades each year, both at A-level where the trend has been consistent and substantial since 1988, and at GCSE."
The research was based on comparing A-level grades over the years with scores for tests that looked at general ability rather than curriculum knowledge.
Coe said it could be that exam performance had improved; there was more focus on preparation and schools were being more selective about who sits exams. Changes such as coursework or modules made it easier for today\'s candidates to shine with the same quality of work as in previous years, he said.
Meanwhile, Britain has slipped in comparison with other countries.
According to a respected international study, the OECD\'s Pisa survey, the UK fell from fourth in the world for school science in 2000 to 14th six years later. It slipped from 7th to 17th for reading and eighth to 24th in maths. The findings were based on independent tests of children\'s ability.
• Ucas advisers are on hand on 0871 468 0 468 and online at ucas.com/contact to provide information and advice.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/aug/19/clearing-2010-places
