Prospective university students who plan to start undergraduate courses in 2025 in the United Kingdom, will have access to the actual grades that recent successful applicants obtained at A-level or its equivalent.
As reported by the BBC, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) aims to “increase transparency” and enhance students’ understanding of how their actual or predicted grades stack up against those of prior successful applicants for their chosen courses.
Ucas believes this modification will enable students to make “informed, ambitious choices” and boost their confidence in their applications.
Dr Jo Saxton, Chief Executive at Ucas, said both measures were part of a plan to “ensure more students from disadvantaged backgrounds” can go to university.
Ucas noted that previously,nearly half of the applicants were accepted with grades below the published requirements.
Nairametrics learns that Universities UK, representing over 140 institutions, has introduced these changes to express its support for measures that broaden university access.
What this new feature means
The new feature will allow students to search for a course and view the most frequent grades of those admitted in previous years, including the highest and lowest grades recorded.
It will also display the ratio of applicants offered a place versus those who applied, and enable students to enter their A-level or BTec grades to see the acceptance percentage for similar grades in the past.
What she said
Dr Saxton expressed her desire to ensure that no young person is compelled to dismiss higher education as an option, whether due to the costs associated with applying or because they lack confidence in the success of their application.
“I want to make sure no young person is forced to rule out higher education as an option, either because of the costs associated with applying or because they lack the confidence that their application will be successful,” she said.
The rationale for the changes
Universities usually publish entry requirements and often exhibit flexibility and hence accept students with lower grades than listed.
Research published by Ucas in 2021 suggested that 49% of 18-year-old applicants with three A-levels were accepted below the published entry requirements.
In order to correct this, historical grade data will be now visible using the Ucas course search tool which is a result of a recommendation by Universities UK (UUK) in 2020.
A 2021 report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, a review set up by No 10, also said young people should be empowered to make informed decisions.
The body also announced that undergraduate applications for 2025 will open on Tuesday, 14 May.
