More than a quarter of students who applied to university still have no place and vacancies are fading fast, figures revealed today.
The university admissions service, Ucas, said 187,488 applicants were still in clearing, the process which matches students who missed their offers or applied late for unfilled places on degree courses. That is almost 28% of the 675,465 students who applied for undergraduate courses this autumn. The figures also show that over 46,000 more students still have no place at university this year compared to the same time last year when there were 141,130 students in clearing. There are thought to be only 18,000 courses with vacancies.
The Ucas chief executive, Mary Curnock Cook, warned that more than 150,000 students would be turned away by universities this year. Some of these students will have top grades. Ben Scheffer, 18, a pupil at Brighton college, gained three A* and three A grades at A-level and has been rejected by all the universities to which he applied.
Curnock Cook said a "very large number" – up to 70,000 – were deciding not to go to university this autumn and may re-apply next year. Some 8,395 students have so far opted out of the system, Ucas said, compared with 6,834 last year.
A record number of university applicants and the recession are thought to have made the desperate scramble for places more intense than ever. Universities are also anxious not to over-recruit, because they may be fined. The Guardian
