Worcester university opening up extra places to meet clearing demand
One of the university's bosses says clearing lines have appeared busier than usual this year
The University of Worcester is opening up extra places on its most popular courses as the number of students wanting places through clearing rises.
The university has said clearing lines have seemed busier today than in recent years, which could be down to grades returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Across the country, the proportion of A-level entries awarded top grades is down on last year but still remains above pre-pandemic levels, national figures showed.
Hundreds of thousands of students across the country received their A-level results on Thursday in a year when ministers and the exams regulator in England aimed to return to pre-pandemic grading.
More than a quarter (27.2 per cent) of UK entries were awarded an A or A* grade, down by 9.2 percentage points on last year when 36.4 per cent achieved the top grades.
However, this was still higher than in 2019 - the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic - when 25.4 per cent of entries were awarded A or A* grades.
The overall pass rate - the proportion of entries graded A* to E - has fallen to 97.3 per cent this year, which is lower than 2022 (98.4 per cent) and the pre-pandemic year of 2019 (97.6 per cent).
Dr Tim Jones, the University of Worcester’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Students, said students should celebrate their grades.
If they weren’t what they expected, he said: “We've got lots of friendly staff here who are ready to talk through the options that are available.
"Some of our really popular courses, such as adult nursing and education, teacher training, we've opened up additional places to allow people to come to study with us next year.”
As well as grades falling back to pre-pandemic levels, he said the university was also seeing students who hadn't yet applied looking for a place.
Perhaps waiting to see their grades first, he said they were now deciding to make their choice.