Clearing begins for A-level students

The clearing process attempts to match students with appropriate courses, including those who have applied through the University and Colleges Admissions Service but have missed out on a place or those who have not applied but now have their results.

The University of Hertfordshiresaid in past years there have been as many as 7,000 calls on the opening day of clearing.

Sharon Harrison-Barker, academic registrar at the University of Hertfordshire, said:

“We are delighted to have maintained the level of students applying for a university place this year, supporting a second-to-none investment we have made in learning and teaching and the overall student experience.

“With a student community of over 27,200 we are very experienced in supporting students throughout their time at university including the application process.

“The Universityhas a wide range of courses on offer and will actively support students who have the potential to succeed through the clearing process. It is important for students to aspire to furthering their studies – a degree is still a highly valued and important qualification.”

Today’s A-level results from the Joint Council for Qualifications show there has been a big rise in the number and proportion of young people taking A-levels in maths, physics, chemistry and biology – subjects that are highly valued by employers and universities.

There are more students doing maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and biology at A-level than ever before.

The number of A-levels awarded A* or A grades this summer has dipped slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 26.3 per cent while the overall pass rate (A*-E) increased marginally by 0.1 percentage points to 98.1 per cent.