Prestigious universities called upon to show “flexibility” with course places

High quality universities have been accused of failing to show necessary flexibility to students with lower A-level grades than expected.

Universities Minister Michelle Donelan has asked universities to be as “flexible as possible” with accepting the 250,000 students who have received A-level results.

Grades were calculated by an algorithm after they were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

415,600 students from the UK and overseas were accepted to UK degree courses, up 1.6% compared to 2019, while 316,730 UK students have been accepted by their first choice, up 2.7% according to UCAS figures.

School and college leaders have complained about the lack of flexibility with A-level grades shown by competitive universities, especially Russell Group universities with popular courses.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form College Association, has stated that “this is the time for flexibility and sensitivity”.

Mr Watkin also said that “it will be disappointing if universities fail to demonstrate these two qualities”.

It would be disappointing if universities fail to demonstrate flexibility and sensitivity

– Bill Watkin

Labour have argued England should follow Scotland’s actions, where teacher-assessed marks were accepted as final A-level results.

The current A-level results algorithm uses the ranking order of pupils and previous exam results of school and colleges to determine grades, according to the BBC.

This means that a bright child in a poorly-performing school could receive a lower grade than their true ability.

36% of results in England had grades lower than teacher predictions, with 3% of students having results downgraded by two grades.

Exam regulator Ofqual have stated using teacher predictions would have inflated results and seen 38% of entries get A*s and As.

Independent schools saw a 5% increase in top grades compared to 2% for comprehensives and 0.3% for further education colleges according to Ofqual figures.

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, the chair of the Russell Group stated that it was a “unique and unprecedented results season” and that universities “are being as flexible as possible with admissions”.

Professor Muscatelli also remarked that universities were “taking a range of factors into account to ensure no students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are unfairly affected”.

UPDATE: Since the time of writing, the government announced that students will receive a teacher-predicted grade or the one assigned by the algorithm, whichever is higher. This does not mean all students have been accepted into universities that initally rejected them.