Education Hub blog
This week students up and down the country got results from their
A Levels, T Levels and vocational and technical qualifications
that are used for progression to university, employment and other
routes.
We’ve seen a number of claims about results and university
admissions in the press and on social media that are either
misleading or don’t tell the full story. Here we look at the
facts.
Claim: A Level results have fallen
Fact check: This claim doesn’t tell the
whole truth. This year’s results aren’t directly comparable to
previous years because for the last two years exams haven’t
happened so grades have been awarded differently on average went
up significantly.
This year’s results are more comparable to 2019 when exams were
last taken – this year 82% of grades were C or above compared to
76% in 2019. But even this isn’t a like for like comparison
because this year’s grades are slightly more generous than in
2019 in recognition of the disruption pupils have faced.
Comparisons don’t tell the full story at the moment but Ofqual
has made clear it plans to move back to a system where grades are
more comparable with the pre-pandemic years.
Claim: More young people are missing out on going to
university
Fact check: This isn’t true. More students
than ever before in an exam year will be taking up a place at
university, with 425,830 securing a place. According to UCAS the
number of students who missed out on a place on Thursday is
20,306 – down from 24,260 in 2019.
Claim: Because grades are lower than last year more
students are missing out on university places?
Fact check: This is a misleading claim.
Yes, grades are lower than last year on average, but this is
something that everyone – including universities - expected due
to the shift back to exam-based assessment. Following Ofqual’s
September announcement on grading, universities have been
excellent at making sure the way they set entry requirements and
make offers to students reflected the grades students received
this summer. Furthermore, the number of places in the system
doesn’t change based on results.
So, despite grades being overall lower this year, this shouldn’t
affect anyone’s chances of getting into university.
Claim: Young people are missing out on places at
universities due to international students and deferrals from
last year
Fact check: Both these claims are
misleading. It is a myth that offering a place to an
international student takes a place away from a student in the UK
- places are offered to UK students and those from overseas in
two separate streams. Today’s data shows international students
make up 12.3% of undergraduates at UK universities this year,
down from 14.7% in 2019.
It’s important to say that international students make a
significant contribution to our university sector which actually
supports the creation of more places for domestic students, not
fewer.
And deferrals from last year make up a really small proportion of
the total and weren’t significantly higher this year than in
previous years. In 2021, 6.5% of all accepted applicants deferred
their place. This is up by just 0.9 percentage points compared to
2019 and 0.3 percentage points compared to 2020.
Claim: Young people from better off backgrounds do better
than their peers in both A Level results and in terms of getting
into university
Fact check: It’s true to say that pupils
from disadvantaged backgrounds do not on average get as good
results at A Level as their peers – but this is something we are
trying to address and the important thing is that the gap is
narrowing.
The gap between the proportion of top grades (A*, A and above and
B and above) in independent schools and academies has narrowed
compared to 2021. Furthermore, a record 23,220 English
18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have been
accepted into university this year, an increase of 4,260 on 2019.
This means that the entry rate gap between the most and least
advantaged has narrowed from 2.29 in 2019 to 2.26 in 2022 and
from 2.32 in 2021.
Claim: There aren’t enough places in Clearing
Fact check: Clearing is always busy. On the
morning of results day, over 27,500 different courses were
available offering students lots of choice. The number of courses
available in Clearing for this year is roughly in line with
previous years. UCAS and providers have been available to support
students throughout the day to help them navigate their options -
whether that is at university or on other high quality vocational
or technical training course.
We’ve seen media coverage suggesting the number of students in
the Clearing system is as high as 43,000. It’s important to make
clear that this figure is those who are ‘free to be placed in
Clearing’ – this figure includes the 20,306 students who missed
out on a place yesterday (which is down from 24,260 in 2019)
but also a large number of inactive applicants and students
who received but declined an offer. Not all of the applicants who
are ‘free to be placed in Clearing’ will want to take up a place
at university this year and so it is misleading to suggest there
are 43,000 students competing for places.
We can expect the number of unplaced applicants to change while
active applicants decide their next steps but will come down
significantly.
