Universities accused of dumbing right down to fill clearing locations
Elite universities have been accused of ‘dumbing down’ by accepting students who have achieved up to four grades lower than their course requirements, as shown on the newly revamped Clearing website.
The site now shows the lowest actual grades of previous students over the past five years, with courses that boast impressively high entry requirements actually letting in people with worse results.
The data, published on each course page by admissions body Ucas, will give cheer to students fearful they may have missed their predicted grades.
This Thursday, more than 250,000 pupils will receive their A-level results, with tens of thousands due to be forced into Clearing – the 11th-hour process where universities fill empty places.
Lower grade offers are often down to ‘contextual’ admissions – taking into account disadvantages such as low income or having been in the care system
A three-grade drop has also been allowed by Southampton for biology, Exeter for history and politics, and King’s College London for history, among others (stock photo)
At least 17 of the 24 universities of the prestigious Russell Group are in Clearing and have previously allowed students in with lower grades than advertised.
York is asking for AAB for its philosophy course but the lowest grades it has accepted from students is BCC – four grades lower. For Sheffield, the Clearing website is asking for AAA for civil engineering but shows students have got in with BBB – three grades lower.
A three-grade drop has also been allowed by Southampton for biology, Exeter for history and politics, and King’s College London for history, among others.
And non-Russell Group universities have been giving out places to students with D grades. Coventry University says its entry requirements for accountancy are BBB, but students have got in with CDD, with the lowest being DDE.
At least 17 of the 24 universities of the prestigious Russell Group are in Clearing and have previously allowed students in with lower grades than advertised (stock photo)
Last night, Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said: ‘The dumbing down of A-level grade requirements will mean that teaching will be dumbed down, too. Weaker students will not, otherwise, be able to cope.
‘Able students who have met the entry requirements are going to be short-changed.’
Ucas decided to publish the grade data to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply to courses they might not otherwise have considered. It said it was to ‘increase transparency’ and help students make ‘informed, ambitious choices’.
Lower grade offers are often down to ‘contextual’ admissions – taking into account disadvantages such as low income or having been in the care system.
A Russell Group spokesman said: ‘Universities have long used contextual offers to ensure that talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds are given equal opportunities… There is categorically no lowering of standards at Russell Group universities.’
