The 17 top universities set to accept students with lower grades

Leading universities are set to drop entry grades for prestigious courses as they battle to recruit students to repair their finances. A record number of students are expected to get into their first choice of university this year – even if they miss their grades, the head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said. At least 17 out of 24 Russell Group universities accepted grades in previous years on a number of courses that were lower than the entry requirements being advertised this year, The i Paper‘s analysis of Ucas data found. Experts suggested this trend is set to continue for those getting A-levels results next week, as universities attempt to attract more British students to compensate for the fall in international post-graduate students. Shorts Despite record numbers of UK students applying for undergraduate courses this year, some subjects such as computing, languages and the arts have declined in popularity – indicating they could be at risk if they do not attract enough students, data shows. Dr Jo Saxton, its chief executive, told The i Paper: “We are likely looking at record acceptances. “We think we’ll be waking up on results day with record numbers of school leavers probably celebrating getting their first so-called Ucas ‘firm choice’.” She said universities have already made 100,000 more offers than last year – around 1.3 million – which indicates they will accept more students. This year’s UK intake will be paying tuition fees of nearly £10,000 a year – the highest on record. It comes amid growing pressure on the Government to take action on rising student debt for graduates. Universities said they only accept students they believe can succeed and that there is no slipping of education standards. Applications plunge for some subjects Dr Saxton said there would be many cases where applicants who narrowly miss their grades still get into their first-choice of university, particularly if they are from a disadvantaged background. She said there was a surge in interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem), at the expense of subjects such as foreign languages and traditional humanities. Ucas previously said this suggested students were making “informed choices about their future study and employment prospects”. Language and studies of particular countries or regions have had a 17 per cent plunge in applicants since 2022, while agriculture and food-related studies, education and teaching have had a 15 per cent drop, The i Paper‘s analysis of Ucas data found. Arts and design courses have had an 8 per cent fall. In the past year, computing had the biggest decrease in applications, at 5 per cent. Nick Hillman, chief executive of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank, said universities, including some in the Russell Group, are likely to accept students with lower grades than advertised due to declining international student numbers caused by tighter immigration controls. “Students are very well-placed if they want to go to a fairly prestigious university because the more prestigious universities have lowered their entry criteria, take more students through clearing, and are just keener to recruit marginal home students than they were in the past,” he said. Hillman said languages have had a “catastrophic decline” in interest, leaving even the most selective universities struggling to fill places. He said creative disciplines like music are struggling, and even business and management courses could be more lenient in their admissions criteria because they tend to rely on more international students. Universities accepting three grades lower than advertised Sam Tuckett, the associate director at the Education Policy Institute think-tank, also said more students were likely to get their first choice of university because of funding pressures. Universities blame much of their financial troubles on capped tuition fees for UK students, which were frozen for years and do not fully cover the cost of delivering the places, forcing institutions to rely on higher fees paid by international students to prop up their finances. Tuckett said more selective universities have increased their offer numbers, which could leave less selective institutions struggling to fill their places, particularly for less popular subjects. The University of York, a member of the Russell Group, said it requires applicants to its business and management BA course to achieve AAB, but accepted applicants in 2023 to 2025 had BCC, according to Ucas data. Newcastle University lists the entry requirement for its biology courses as ABB, but routinely accepts BCC. Among prestigious courses, University College London requires AAA for biochemistry but accepts AAB, with the lowest grades taken at BBB. The University of Warwick lists A*AA for management, yet its most commonly accepted grade is AAA and the lowest grades are ABB. King’s College London lists A*AA for its politics course but most commonly accepts AAA and grades as low as BBB. The other universities accepting lower grades are: Durham University, Cardiff University, Queen Mary University of London, Queen’s University Belfast and the Universities of Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Sheffield, Birmingham and Nottingham. ‘More opportunities for students’ Joanna Burton, associate director of higher education at the Russell Group, said a “healthy student intake” supports the “financial resilience” of institutions and means more opportunities for young people. “Russell Group universities maintain very high academic standards and remain more selective on average than the rest of the sector,” she said. “Admissions teams always exercise professional judgement when assessing applicants, and there is no evidence of lowering standards. Universities admit students who show they have the potential to succeed and thrive on their chosen course.” A Universities UK spokesperson said admissions decisions take into account many aspects of a student’s application, not just grades, and institutions will only accept students they believe can succeed. The University of Manchester referred The i Paper to the Russell Group’s comment. The Vice Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, Professor Sir Ian Greer, said it was “unfair and unsustainable” that the number of students it can accept from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is capped, while there is no limit on acceptances from the rest of the UK. The Universities of Sheffield and York declined to comment. A source at one of the institutes said historical grades do not represent current entry requirements and that they accept lower grades from students from under-represented backgrounds. The other universities named in this article did not respond to a request for comment.