The growth in student numbers has not led to university entrants
having lower qualifications.
An analysis, published
today by Universities UK, shows that last year, the average
student had 340 UCAS tariff points on entry (around BBB at
A-level, plus C at AS level), compared to 313 tariff points in
2011 (between BBC and BCC at A-level, plus C at AS level).
390,000 people from the UK were accepted on full-time
undergraduate courses at English higher education providers in
2017 – an increase of more than 100,000 in ten years.
The analysis, ‘Growth and choice in
university admissions’, also shows that vocational
qualifications, such as BTECs, are widely recognised in
university admissions.
Alistair Jarvis, Universities UK Chief
Executive, said the analysis shows the changing face of
university admissions:
“Reforms to the university system have led to more students,
greater choice for them and increased competition among
universities. This analysis shows that university entrants
continue to be highly qualified and increasing numbers of
applicants are accepted with vocational qualifications at all
types of universities. This has made it possible for people from
a broader range of backgrounds to benefit from a university
education.
“There are a growing range of university courses with a
vocational focus, from traditional undergraduate degrees such as
architecture and engineering to newer courses like degree
apprenticeships in cyber security. In fact, four in ten
university courses could be considered vocational in some way."
ENDS
Notes
- On 5 December 2013, the government announced the cap on the
number of UK and EU-domiciled undergraduates that English higher
education institutions may recruit would be relaxed in 2014/15
and abolished in 2015/16. This meant limits on the total number
of undergraduate students ended and has led to the expansion of
higher education.
- The UCAS Tariff is a means of allocating points to post-16
qualifications, based on a simple mathematical model which uses a
qualification size and grading scale to generate a total number
of points. The main purpose of the Tariff is to provide a broad
metric for qualifications at Level 3/SCQF Level 6 to support
university and college management information needs. All
universities and colleges use the UCAS Tariff for submitting data
returns to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Some
universities and colleges will continue to use the Tariff as a
tool to set their entry requirements and make offers
- UCAS introduced a new tariff system in September 2017, the
data used in ‘Growth and choice in university admissions’ uses
the previous tariff for comparative purposes.
