Record numbers of students gained university places today amid claims
admissions tutors had been required to lower entry grades to drive up
acceptance rates.
Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) showed
almost 400,000 students accepted places on A-level results day – up by
11,000 in a year.
The total number of undergraduates starting degrees is expected to exceed half
a million for the first time when all places are confirmed later in the
summer.
It comes after the Coalition granted universities greater recruitment powers
this year, with institutions allowed to admit unlimited numbers of
applicants with at least an A and two Bs at A-level and 30,000 additional
students with lower grades.
The increase in acceptances was recorded despite an overall decline in the
A-level pass rate for the first time in more than three decades.
Admissions officers told the Telegraph that many universities had dropped
their entry requirements to fill courses, with some offers falling by two
grades, particularly in foreign languages.
Figures from the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents exam
boards, showed that more A-levels exam papers gained the very top grade – A*
– with numbers increasing from 7.8 to 8.2 per cent in a year.
But it emerged that fewer students scored A, B, C, D and E grades this summer.
It was the first time since 1982 that the number of Es had failed to rise
and was the third year in a row that A grades had slipped.
In an unusual move, examiners wrote an open letter, warning that it was "quite
probable" that the drop in pass rates below A* was down to more
students picking tough subjects.
They also admitted that a government decision to scrap January exams may have
had an impact. It meant all pupils were forced to sit tests for the first
time in the summer – preventing them taking the same A-level twice in one
year.
Schools that traditionally used summer exams as a “resitting opportunity… will
most likely experience the greatest change” in results, it was claimed.
It also emerged that:
• Maths had become the most popular subject in British sixth-forms, overtaking
English for the first time on record, as exam entries almost doubled in a
decade;
• Fewer students took foreign language courses, continuing a recent shift away
from French and German;
• Boys continued to catch up with girls, with the traditional gender gap at A
grade shrinking to its narrowest point since the late 90s
• Women were more likely to get into university and Mary Curnock Cook,
UCAS chief executive called for "more focus on educational achievement for
boys" to rectify the situation
• Queen Elizabeth’s, a grammar school in Barnet, north London, was named as
the top school in the country for the third year running in a Telegraph
league table, with more than 98 per cent of exams being graded at least a B.
Despite an overall drop in grades, more pupils had their university places
confirmed on A-level results day.
Some 396,990 undergraduates won places at UK universities, up three per cent
on last year. It included 352,590 that gained places on their first choice
course – a rise of two per cent.
The overall rise in acceptances is likely to be down to the expansion of
university places this year.
But admissions officers admitted that universities were also more likely to
lower their entry grades to fill courses, particularly in subjects such as
languages where well-qualified candidates were in relatively short supply.
Nick Foskett, vice-chancellor of Keele University, told the Telegraph: “My
sense is that there will be a bit more flexibility around admissions than in
previous years. Students who slip by a grade or even a couple of grades may
well find that universities are more willing to accept them than in the past
because they have more places.”
A spokeswoman for Southampton said that on Thursday grades of BBB – below the
normal entry requirement of ABB – were being accepted for some subjects.
But she said grade boundaries were not being lowered for electronics and
electrical engineering courses.
Roderick Smith, director of admissions at Birmingham, said: “For the very
competitive courses like psychology, business studies, physics we rarely
take anyone who hasn’t met the offer grade.
“But some courses that are more difficult to fill – perhaps modern languages –
certainly we will take people who are one grade down or maybe two grades
down because we want to fill as many places as we can before we get to
[A-level results day].”
He said Birmingham preferred to take on-time applicants who slightly missed
their grades than those who came through clearing because they were more
committed to the university.
Lynsey Hopkins, head of admissions at Sheffield, said the more flexible
admissions arrangements meant the university could now take more students
who failed to gain ABB grades.
Some 150 courses were available for these students at the university on
Thursday, she said, adding: "Across a few courses we have been able to
be more flexible in the amount of students we are able to take with courses
below ABB… Languages is somewhere we will probably be more flexible because
there is a shortage."
Greg Clark, the Universities Minister, said: “It’s very much in the interests
of every university to maintain a reputation for excellence… There are very
strong reasons for universities only to admit those students who are capable
of a university education.
“But I am convinced there are still places in the country where some really
bright young people who could benefit massively from a university education
so far haven’t had the chance to go. That’s precisely the talent pool that I
would like universities to be developing.”
Seperate figures showed that acceptances for men had increased by one per cent
this year to 172,420, but acceptances for women were up by four per cent to
224,570.
Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive said: "I would like to see more
focus on educational achievement for boys through primary and secondary
education to support improved access to higher education”