This year’s admissions round, bringing a second successive fall in entry rates, is raising the prospect of strategic uncertainty for English universities that have based their growth models on ever-increasing student demand, according to experts.
The entry rate for English 18-year-old students, showing the numbers accepting places in higher education as a proportion of all 18-year-olds in the population, stood at 35.6 per cent, according to Ucas figures published six days after results were released, taking account of the start of clearing. That was down from 37.2 per cent at the same point in 2022 and 38.1 per cent in 2021.
The number of UK students accepted onto courses by UK universities stood at 411,000, down from 427,310 at the same point the previous year after the number of top grades was deflated back to pre-pandemic levels.
Mark Corver, co-founder of the dataHE consultancy and a former director of analysis and research at Ucas, said the figures to date indicated the sector was “on track for the largest fall ever in the entry rate” for English students, though this could be moderated by the end of the cycle.
