Last Thursday’s hugely successful A Level results were meant to be full of joy, satisfaction and vindication at two years of hard, successful work. However, for many thousands, the frantic scramble has begun to get into University, due to record amount of young people applying for higher education study.
Although the competition for places is getting tougher than ever before, it does surprise many outsiders than students who collected straight A grades have not been given confirmed places to the University course of their choice. Overall, the A Level pass rate rose again, for the 28th year in succession, with 98% of entries getting an E grade or higher and 27% of students were given an A grade, a 0.3% increase on 2009’s results.
With the amount of applications that have been received this year, UCAS, the organisation responsible for supplying students with higher education courses have warned that margin for error has been restricted this year and is encouraging students to take a year out, or apply for part-time and apprenticeship courses. For many though, these alternatives are simply not an option. More than 660,000 students have applied for University places this year, whereas only 380,000 applied and got into University last year, including myself. Many of the top-class Universities such as London, Birmingham and Durham have already said that they are full up and have no options remaining.
The recession has made this the biggest and most challenging year for students and with budgets cuts having to be made by most Universities, this just adds to the frustration for many. There is bound to be many disappointing faces and heartbreak for many students. The rush to get a spot through UCAS clearing service is now well and truly on.
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