18th December 2019 14:53
By Blue Tutors
Just under half of the students starting university this year achieved grades lower than the entry requirement of their university. Reported on the BBC, UCAS has published their end of cycle report which shows that 49% of young people who sat 3 or more A Levels were accepted on to their chosen course despite not achieving the university’s advertised grades. In addition, 60% of the most disadvantaged 20% of students were accepted onto a course without meeting the grade requirements due to the increasing policy of “contextualised offers”.
The report from UCAS shows that students shouldn’t be deterred from applying to university because they’re worried about getting high enough grades. There have been recent efforts to encourage aspiration when thinking about university, particularly for disadvantaged students and it’s important to be aware of what a university might accept when viewing the advertised entry requirements. UCAS also pointed out that the 18 year old UK population will fall to its lowest point in recent years in 2020, so it is a very good time to apply for further education.
Roughly 1 in 6 of the most disadvantaged students received a contextual offer. The number of students in this bracket who win a university place has increased by 61% in the last 10 years, but UCAS said that only 60% of these students are aware of the idea of contextual offers and therefore more needs to be done to promote aspiration.
It is important for schools and teachers to familiarise themselves with the changing way in which universities are offering places and accepting students to ensure that students can be ambitious. The gap between the rich and poor in further education has narrowed but it is still far too wide and we need to continue to work on that.