British universities will be competing for school leavers on A-level results day to fill their places amid financial pressures, experts have suggested.
Three out of four top institutions have courses available through clearing – which matches applicants to university places yet to be filled – in the week before A-level results day, analysis has found.
The competition among universities to recruit more students comes amid a decline in the proportion of UK school leavers applying to higher education and a fall in demand from overseas applicants.
Students receiving their grades next week could find many places on courses still available on results day – especially at cash-strapped institutions who need the tuition fee income, it has been suggested.
The end result is a real battle for students with, for example, quite probably more courses at Russell Group institutions in clearing this year and also lots of voluntary redundancy schemes in place for staff at many universities
Nick Hillman, director of the Hepi think tank
A PA news agency sample of 130 of the UK’s largest higher education providers showed more than 23,000 courses with vacancies for undergraduate students living in England were available on the Ucas clearing site as of Wednesday.
Eighteen of the 24 elite Russell Group universities had vacancies on courses for English residents – a total of 3,892 courses between them.
A similar analysis last year, in the week before A-level results day, showed 15 of the 24 universities had vacancies on courses for English residents – a total of 2,021 courses between them – on the clearing site.
Clearing is available to students who do not meet the conditions of their offer on A-level results day, as well as those who did not receive any offers.
Students who have changed their mind about what or where they wish to study, and also those who have applied outside the normal application window, can also use clearing.
Eight days ahead of exam results day, there was a total of 23,306 courses through clearing across 130 universities, the PA analysis showed.
A similar analysis by PA last year – carried out at the same point before A-level results day – showed there was a total of 22,410 courses through clearing.
The universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Durham had no courses listed on Ucas’s clearing site eight days before A-level results day last year, but this year all three Russell Group universities have vacancies.
I think universities will have a very clear sense of what their numbers are this year, what they've got to achieve to balance the books
Mike Nicholson, University of Cambridge
Nick Hillman , director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank, said he believed students “who act fast” after getting their results next week “could find many university courses still open”.
He told the PA news agency: “While the fall in international applications is partly about postgraduate study, it still leaves universities with unused resources and empty places.
“The end result is a real battle for students with, for example, quite probably more courses at Russell Group institutions in clearing this year and also lots of voluntary redundancy schemes in place for staff at many universities.”
University leaders have warned of significant financial concerns in recent months as a result of frozen tuition fees paid by domestic students and a decline in international students following visa restrictions.
Meanwhile, the application rate for UK 18-year-olds has fallen to 41.9% this year, from 42.1% last year and 44.1% in 2022, according to the data collected by Ucas at the end of June.
“Any university that is really strapped for cash and which is on course for empty places needs to have a really good clearing to keep the wolves from the door,” Mr Hillman warned.
Unfilled degree courses are a chilling prospect for universities reliant on tuition fees to sustain their financial future
Lee Elliot Major, University of Exeter
Mike Nicholson, director of recruitment, admissions and participation at the University of Cambridge, which does not take part in clearing, said universities have been “fast off the blocks” in advertising clearing vacancies this year.
In pre-pandemic years, universities who were using clearing usually waited until August to advertise places but now more institutions who have capacity are advertising online and on social media in July, Mr Nicholson said.
He told PA: “I think universities will have a very clear sense of what their numbers are this year, what they’ve got to achieve to balance the books.
“Therefore I think Thursday and Friday of the week the A-level results are out will be very busy.”
Many universities are likely to run “physical drop-in sessions” in the immediate days after results come out to try to encourage students to enrol, he added.
Mr Nicholson said: “I think the impetus this year will be to take a student who’s narrowly missed (on their grades), and then if you need some more students on top of that go into clearing.
“But if you can fill your places on students who’ve got the grades and those who’ve narrowly missed, and then not have to bother with clearing, then for a university that’s probably a stronger position to be in.”
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, told PA: “Unfilled degree courses are a chilling prospect for universities reliant on tuition fees to sustain their financial future.”
He said: “I think what institutions are having to do now is make sure that they fill their home student numbers because the income has gone down from those international student numbers so dramatically. So there probably is more pressure on universities to make sure that they get their enrolments.”
Prof Elliot Major added: “What I’m being told is that because of these worries about application rates falling this year, that there will be lots of departments, lots of universities that you might not ordinarily think of going into clearing (who) might have to go into that process to get those numbers up.”
More than nine in 10 (91%) of UK 18-year-olds who have applied to university or college are holding an offer, compared with 89% last year, Ucas figures show.
Speaking ahead of A-level results day on Thursday next week, Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said “there’s plenty of space in the system”.
She said: “I think (clearing) is going to be pretty active and there will be plenty of opportunities in clearing as there are every year.”
A Ucas spokesperson said: “For anyone who doesn’t receive the results they were expecting or those who want to reconsider their choice, there will be plenty of options in clearing with just under 30,000 courses available – which is in line with last year.
“As is the case each year, clearing is likely to be competitive for the most selective courses and at the most selective universities. Ucas’s advice to students is to research their options and make a plan ahead of results day.”
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