More applicants ditching firm offers to enter clearing, says Ucas

Many more UK university applicants who have accepted a place are declining their firm offers to enter clearing in search of a different course, the chief executive of Ucas has said.

In a webinar hosted jointly by the admissions service and the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), Jo Saxton explained how those using Ucas’ clearing system were “using it differently” than previously, with the “single largest use [so far] being those who had declined a place” at a university in the hope of finding a spot elsewhere.

Ucas introduced a “decline my place” button in 2021, which enabled applicants to opt out more easily from university places accepted during the main applications window. From 2022, it replaced the “adjustment” service that allowed applicants who received better grades than they expected to search for another course, although the number of students using this tool was always relatively small. Only 570 applicants were placed using adjustment in the first seven days of clearing in 2021 compared with 42,000 via clearing overall at that point.

Traditionally, clearing has been mostly used by students who did not achieve their predicted results on which university offers were made.

The growing use of “decline my place” was likely to be supported by champions of post-qualifications admissions (PQA), in which students would apply to universities after receiving their A-level results rather than on the basis of their predicted results, said Dr Saxton, who was speaking to Hepi director Nick Hillman ahead of A-level results day on 15 August.

Asked if this year’s clearing would see more of a “buyers’ market” for students given that there are fewer UK domestic applicants than in previous years, Dr Saxton would not be drawn but said there was still “really healthy demand” for university places, including “the second highest interest from 18-year-olds” – the biggest cohort of university applicants.

Data released by Ucas last month showed the application rate for UK 18-year-olds fell to 41.8 per cent for 2024 – down from 42.1 per cent last year, and the peak of 44.1 per cent in 2022.

Amid reports that Russell Group universities were seeking to recruit many more students via clearing than in previous years, Dr Saxton added that it was too soon to say whether this was the case, although there was “one more highly selective institution [in clearing] than last year”.

“It’s not until Thursday that we can make a confirmation on what is available or not,” said Dr Saxton, adding that “numbers are fluctuating at the moment”.

Dr Saxton, who joined Ucas as chief executive in January, added that she was disappointed by a “decline in applications from mature students” but said the fall in interest related to courses in health sciences and nursing, which had increased dramatically during the pandemic.

“There was a huge surge in interest in these courses but one of the things that my most experienced colleagues tell me is that there is a correlation between low unemployment and applications to these courses,” she reflected on the reasons for the downturn.

In contrast, there had been a “huge surge in interest for all things STEM”, added Dr Saxton.

Asked if Ucas would support PQA reforms to university admissions – a move backed by the University and College Union and previously by Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner when she was shadow education secretary – Dr Saxton said she had been a supporter of these reforms.

This was informed by her time working with schoolchildren in deprived coastal areas who would sometimes achieve far better than predicted results that would enable them far greater choice in where they studied, she explained.

However, her time as chief regulator at Ofqual highlighted how PQA would present huge difficulties in supporting students throughout the admissions process, she added. “I wonder if it is a reasonable expectation for teachers to work with students in a single day in August”, she said about moving applications post-results.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com