After the A-level inflation during the pandemic forced the universities to hire more students, the institutions are now restricting the popular courses despite the increase of the applications. Parents and teachers who contacted the Guardian report that the students had planned to earn A * grades at Level A, which in previous years would receive offers from many of their preferred institutions, but instead received a series of rejections. Stephen Morgan, the shadow school minister, said: “The repeated failure of this government to plan for the future of our children threatens to hold back a generation. Young people taking exams this summer have endured two years of chaos and upheaval in their education. However, the ministers’ complacency leaves them with the added concern that getting good grades will not be enough to move on to the next stage of their lives. “Last summer we urged ministers to work with universities, we made a plan for this summer’s grades almost a year ago, but the ministers sat on their hands. “The ambitions of the children are a posteriori thought for this government.” University applications have risen by 5% this year, partly driven by the highest number of 18-year-olds – a result of the baby boom of the mid-2000s and part of a trend that will continue for the next decade – and of those who delayed applying for a pandemic . But members of the research-intensive Russell University team have over-recruited over the past two years – with students scoring higher than teachers – and now want to bring the numbers back to pre-pandemic levels. University leaders have blamed the erosion of tuition fees on inflation for making it harder for them to cope with the growing number of students dropping out of school. In order to keep the numbers manageable, popular universities are making fewer offers, leading to frustration for some candidates. Daniel Merrett, 17, a public school student in Portsmouth who attended free school meals, has an A * in math and an A * A * A in further math, physics and computer science. But he was rejected by his top four picks: Oxford, Imperial College, Warwick and Bath. He made the decisions very late in the cycle and decided to reapply the following year instead of taking over his security from Liverpool. “When I read ‘your offer was unsuccessful’, it was a big shock, I was not ready to see that answer,” he said. “The first day was depressing, I did not feel good about it. You just ruined one of your dreams. It made me feel that my A * was less valuable than usual “. Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Student Union of the United Kingdom, said: “This is absolutely disgusting for students. “What they called access was really a closed door and this news revealed the myth of this ruined education system.” Maija, a teacher, said her 13-year-old students were experiencing “frustration and disaster” as many were expected to have their top grades rejected by all universities except their choice. “In other years, students with equivalent achievements were able to obtain the desired positions. “I find it completely absurd for a student with these achievements to be considered not good enough,” he said. Maija said universities had increased their degree requirements this year and some students had applied to “insurance” universities which then increased their offerings, for example to AAA instead of ABB, making them a good backup. An email to schools from Warwick University stated that “due to the uncertainty with the grading of levels A and [the international baccalaureate]had increased the entry requirements to A * A * A. A university leader said the offers were “more cautious” as he saw higher-than-expected teacher forecasts. Students use the required grades to submit their initial applications and usually receive offers subject to specific test scores. Mark Corver, founder of DataHE, said last year ‘s data showed that high – tax universities boosted recruitment after years of expansion. “We speculated at the time that there were all the circumstances so that this was not an isolated conflict, but a radical change in the candidates’ ability to enter certain types of universities.” Mike Nicholson, director of recruitment at Cambridge University, said many universities ended up with significantly more students than expected in 2020 and 2021. “So we see 2022 as a year that many universities are using to recalibrate. “Universities are quite conservative in terms of the number of offers that are made, so that they are not found captive.” Nicholson said students are unlikely to be able to “swap” the netting as the most competitive courses and universities would be crowded. For students considering postponing, he said next year’s bids will probably still be lower. However, fewer students dropping out of school in England are expected to defer or take a year off after government changes to the student loan system. Students starting classes in 2023 will repay student loans for 40 years after graduation, instead of 30 years for those admitted to courses this fall. A spokesman for Ucas University said: “We have seen over the last two years during the pandemic, with the transition from exams to grades being assessed by teachers, more students qualifying, especially in the most competitive courses such as law, engineering, medicine and dentistry. “In the most competitive universities, the number of students admitted to full-time undergraduate programs has increased from 154,000 in 2019 to 177,000 in 2021.” Ucas said the 5% increase in the number of 18-year-olds applying in the UK this year, from 306,200 to 320,420, along with 6,000 more students holding deferred admissions, “will make securing a place at many universities extremely competitive.” procedure”. A Ministry of Education spokesman said: “We want all students with the ability and talent to study at university to be able to do so and last year a record number of students secured places at the university, including a record number of 18-year-olds with disabilities. “Every year there is competition for places in the most popular universities and in the most popular courses, but the government works closely with the higher education sector to ensure that students can advance to high quality courses that lead to good results.”
