Just over a week before the publication of examination results, many top universities warned that they were already “full” and would be forced to reject students who missed offers by a single grade. Admissions tutors said the number of places awarded through clearing – which matches students to spare courses – would be slashed because of a huge rise in applications.
It is believed the 47,000 clearing places awarded last year could be cut by a third this summer. One vice-chancellor said as many as seven people would be competing for every course through clearing, compared with around three last year. The squeeze is expected to be intensified by the imposition of fines for universities guilty of over-recruiting. Institutions could lose £3,700 for every student recruited beyond strict Government limits, giving them less flexibility to take extra undergraduates than previous years.
The disclosure comes just two days after David Willetts, the Universities Minister, admitted top A-level students faced missing out on higher education because of the demand for degree courses. He said the provision of 10,000 extra university places by the Coalition this year would not be enough to prevent some high-achieving students being rejected altogether.
A survey of universities across Britain has found that many – including Imperial, Birmingham and Bristol – will not be using clearing this year. Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, University College Londonand Edinburgh never use clearing. Others including Sheffield, Warwick and Southampton said they expected to have few spare places “if any”. King’s College London and Glasgow said they would have fewer than 100 clearing places, while Cardiff expected to have just 200. Manchester said only 50 places would be available.
