Fewer students have been accepted into their preferred university after the UK’s return to end-of-school examinations following two years of teacher-assessed grades.
This year’s Ucas data show that 374,580 applicants have been accepted on to their firm choice, more than 20,000 fewer than the 395,770 last year.
This was driven by a sharp drop in the number of students accepted by the most selective universities, after steep rises since 2019. These “higher tariff” institutions confirmed 151,760 places on the morning of results day, down from 163,100 last year, although they retained the largest share of admissions overall.
