Universities will have more places than predicted for students with 'exceptional' A-level results, but thousands will still miss out
The most intense scramble ever seen to get into university will begin today, amid signs that some places on degree courses are being held back for high-fliers who miss out on their first choice.
While thousands are predicted to be disappointed, the head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service told the Guardian that she expected places to be made available in clearing by universities seeking exceptional candidates who had lost out elsewhere.
Only the most high-achieving candidates will benefit from the lifeline, but the number of places available may surprise applicants who fear they may be excluded from university altogether when A-level results are published.
Mary Curnock Cook, the chief executive of Ucas, said: "I must say that I have really reserved my judgment on how big clearing will be this year. A whole lot of people are saying there are going to be fewer and fewer places in clearing. I've heard that some institutions are deliberately keeping some places in clearing in the hope that they can pick up some well-qualified candidates. It's very difficult to call what clearing will look like."
Despite fears that top universities had closed their doors in advance of clearing, nine of the elite Russell Group, including King's College London, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds, said yesterday they would have places available. A tenth, Sheffield, said the number of places it would have was still uncertain.
Cardiff University said it would have around 260 places available, Manchester 120 and Newcastle around 100.
Competition for university places means that students of an unprecedented calibre are likely to miss out on their first choices and, despite an almost overwhelming number of applications, other elite universities are keen to attract them.
However, about 170,000 are predicted to miss out on a place after applications surged to another record high.
The University and College Union, which represents lecturers, said 2010 would be remembered as the year when record numbers of qualified students were turned away from university.
General secretary Sally Hunt said: "It is quite tragic that thousands of students will miss out on a university place this summer, though they have achieved good A-level results and been encouraged throughout their academic career to aim for university."
Curnock Cook urged candidates with good grades to consider applying again next year if they had made an "unrealistic" application to a highly competitive university this year.
Just over 47,000 students found a place at a university through clearing last year.
The government has funded 9,000 extra places this year, bringing the total at English universities to nearly 365,000.
There is a government cap on university places in England, and they face fines of £3,700 a student if they exceed this limit.
Today's results are the last A-levels to have been partly taken under a Labour government that came to power promising to transform education. If pass rates rise again, it will lead to fresh controversy about whether standards have slipped.
The new A* grade will be awarded for the first time in an attempt to help universities select the best candidates from the increasing number with three As. The pass rate rose last year to 97.5%, with 26.7% of total entries achieving an A grade.
The head of Ucas said there had been a steady move away from the A-level as the sole route into higher education.
Curnock Cook said: "There has been a dramatic shift – 10 years ago 70% of people going to university would have had A-levels, now its more like 50%. In the younger age group, the A-level is still very much the dominant qualification. [But] increasingly applicants progress successfully to university with things like BTec, diplomas are coming through, there's a whole range of different qualifications."
More mature students are applying for university study. More than 20% of all applicants were over 25 this year, Curnock Cook said.
Professor Les Ebdon, chair of million+, which represents universities set up after 1992, said: "Thousands of well-qualified applicants are likely to be left without a place. There is a very real and serious risk that many individuals from poorer backgrounds, who have been at the heart of the drive to uplift aspirations, will be the very students who do not get a place in 2010. These students are central to any increase in social mobility."
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the vice-chancellors' group Universities UK, urged applicants who did not get their grades not to panic: "The Ucas helpline and the exam results helpline will be on hand to offer advice to applicants and universities will also be doing all they can. The clearing process will always be competitive but there will be places available this summer, despite the process being briefer and tighter than in previous years. If applicants can be flexible in their clearing choices, this could help them in securing a place."
Vince Cable has announced a shakeup of higher education, with proposals for higher-earning graduates to pay more for their degrees, as well as cutting the cost to the taxpayer by encouraging private universities.