Warning students may face tough competition for places at top UK universities - which subjects will be affected?

Students may face tougher competition for places on some courses at leading Russell Group universities this summer due to a “major expansion” of applicants following the Covid pandemic.

Universities UK warned that some top universities could limit numbers in subject areas as they may not have enough accommodation, specialist teaching spaces or staffing.

Professor Sir Steve West, president of Universities UK, said that some Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, may also not offer as many vacancies on courses in clearing this year because of capacity issues.

Earlier this month, Ucas and Ofqual bosses told students waiting for their results to be “mindful” that the most selective courses “do get filled quickly”, adding that there will be competition for places due to a growth in 18-year-olds in the population.

Clearing has become an increasingly popular route to securing a university place in recent years with students by-passing the main application system in favour of finding a course directly through clearing. It is also used by students who may have changed their mind about their course or university and want to find somewhere new.

When asked whether Russell Group universities are likely to have fewer vacancies in clearing this summer, Sir Steve said: “I think that might well be the case in areas where they are either restricted on their student numbers because of highly popular courses and they’re restricted – medicine and dentistry are always the common ones.

“Some research-intensive universities will be limiting numbers into other areas and that’s purely and simply because of capacity in the institutions.”

In a message to students ahead of results day on 17 August, Sir Steve said that there “will be places available in UK universities” but “they may not be in your first choice university”.

He added: “But you will be able to find a university that works for you and allows you to study what you want to study.”

In England, A-level and GCSE results are set to return to pre-pandemic levels this year after Covid led to an increase in top grades in 2020 and 2021 as results were based on teacher assessments instead of exams.

Dr Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said that while competition for places at the top universities “remains high” there is a “welcome increase in the proportion of students holding a firm offer from their preferred university this year.”

He said: “This reflects increased confidence in offer-making by institutions as school exam grading returns to the pre-pandemic profile.”

The warnings to students comes as Rishi Sunak announced he wants to cap the number of students that can be accepted to “rip-off”, so-called ‘Mickey Mouse’ university degrees, which are studied “at the taxpayers’ expense”.

The government said limits will be imposed on courses that have high dropout rates or a low proportion of graduates getting a professional job, as part of its response to the Augar review established by Theresa May back in 2017.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Monday,  17 July, the Education Minister Gillian Keegan, said: “There are too many students not getting [good] jobs, too many students who aren’t completing, too many students who are dropping out of courses.”

Opposition MPs said the new measures are a “cap” and an “attack” on young people’s aspirations, restricting them from their choices.

Sir Steve said in England the Office for Students (OfS) already has the power to impose recruitment limits on courses which breach certain minimum thresholds for continuation, progression, and completion, so government measures must be “targeted and proportionate” and “not a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Which subjects are likely to be affected?

When asked whether the cohort of students currently waiting for results this year could face tougher competition at Russell Group universities than in previous years, Sir Steve told PA that this will be “possible” in “some subject areas where there may be pressures on accommodation or type of teaching spaces, environments or staffing.”

He said that subjects such as science, medicine and dentistry will be affected.

These subjects are the “obvious ones” that are likely to face tougher competition “because of workshops and laboratories”, Sir Steve added.