High-tariff providers have admitted 1000 students due to better-than-expected A-level results and a decline in the number of international applicants.
After receiving their A-level results, sixth-formers rush to the most prestigious universities, with enrollment figures showing a significant increase from the previous year.
Experts said this year, despite enrolling fewer foreign students, “high tariff” universities, including those in the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, were giving more spots to UK school-leavers.
Additionally, several universities could accept more students because of the extra space created by the sizeable undergraduate cohort accepted during the COVID-19 pandemic this summer.
With superior-than-expected A-level results released on Thursday, school dropouts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have seized the opportunity by confirming offers or applying through clearing.
100,000 18-year-olds in the UK have already accepted spots at higher-tariff universities like Bath or Loughborough, according to data supplied by the Ucas admissions service on Friday. This is a record outside of the pandemic-affected 2021 applications season and a 13% rise over 2023.
Several Russell Group universities, like Cardiff, York, and University College London, still have openings via clearing, so those numbers are probably going to increase.
The head of dataHE, which assists universities with admissions, Mark Corver, stated that the full picture will be known only after the Monday admissions round, with a record number of school leavers securing through clearing.
Carver stated: “The absence of a big fall in A-level grades has helped. However, the driver at this stage is an abrupt rediscovery of interest in UK 18-year-olds from the more selective universities.
“For some the large graduating cohorts this summer and last will have given extra capacity. But more important, we think, is a greater appreciation of the [financial] risks associated with not balancing the intakes of home and international students.”
Some universities are finding it difficult to draw in more overseas students this year after significantly increasing their recruitment efforts, particularly about postgraduate students enrolled in taught courses.
With a larger percentage of students attending prestigious, high-tariff universities, the remaining universities will hope that there are enough funds left over to keep them out of financial trouble.
Carver stated, “The funding position for UK undergraduates remains awful, slightly worse again than last year. But some universities seem to have reconsidered them as the least-worst option for this year.”
High-tariff universities admitted 130,000 students to courses the day after the release of the A-level results, up from just under 120,000 the year before and 106,000 in 2019, the year before the Covid pandemic.
More than 130,000 UK students were admitted by medium-tariff universities such as Nottingham Trent and Hull for courses beginning in autumn than the previous year. 128,000 UK students have been accepted by lower-tariff providers, which is around 3,000 fewer-tariff providers, which is around 3,000 fewer than in 2023.
Ucas divides the country into high, medium, and low based on each student’s average grades. It assigns 56 tariff points for an A* and 32 points for a C. 10,000 more students have been admitted to low-tariff universities than to higher-tariff schools.
Almost 244,000 students secured spots on the results day, with high-tariff universities being the most prominent beneficiaries. However, acceptances from students in Wales and Northern Ireland, where the percentage of top A-level grades decreased compared to the previous year, were less pronounced.
