A record number of UK 18-year-olds have secured a place at university through clearing, figures show.
Earlier figures from A-level results day in August revealed that fewer students gained a place at their preferred university after regulators sought to return exam grades to pre-pandemic levels.
Data released by the admissions service Ucas 28 days on shows that 38,140 18-year-olds from the UK secured a place via clearing in 2023 – up 15 per cent on last year, and 16 per cent on 2019, before the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on grades.
The data confirms the trend previously highlighted by the consultancy dataHE, which estimated that record numbers of the 2023 cohort had missed the high grades they were predicted by teachers.
