22nd August 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Edinburgh University has chosen to award all of its places available via the clearing process to disadvantaged students in an effort to meet the Scottish government’s objective to increase social diversity in the student population. Reported on the BBC, the clearing process in Scotland was opened two weeks ago when Scottish students discovered their results. The majority of places were quickly filled by students given unconditional offers, or by students who achieved the grades required. Approximately 1% of available places are filled via clearing.
The Scottish government has encouraged universities to accept more students from SIMD 20 postcode areas, areas seen as containing a high proportion of disadvantaged students. This is financially difficult for Scottish universities because Scottish students do not pay tuition fees, whereas students from the rest of the EU do. In addition, many Scots have argued that simply being in an SIMD 20 area does not take account of personal circumstances, and there is a growing frustration that too few disadvantaged Scottish students are be awarded a university place.
Many Scottish Universities do not seek to accept students from SIMD 20 areas at all; it is not a government requirement. This is only the second year that Edinburgh University has awarded any places to disadvantaged students via clearing, having not done so before 2017.
A spokesperson from Glasgow University said that the number of applicants from SIMD 20 areas has decreased in 2018, possibly because of the perception that Scottish universities are more interested in accepting students who will pay tuition fees. And Glasgow has increased their target for the number of disadvantaged students they accept, which has made it difficult this year. As a consequence they are not offering clearing places to anyone from outside SIMD 20 areas.