New tool to show actual grades needed to go to uni

Students hoping to start undergraduate courses in 2025 will be able to see the grades that recent successful applicants have achieved at A-level or equivalent.

Universities already publish entry requirements for courses but they can be flexible and let students in with lower grades.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), which is making the changes, said nearly half of applicants were admitted with lower grades.

Ucas said the change would help students make "informed, ambitious choices" and give them confidence in their applications.

Universities UK, which represents more than 140 institutions, said it welcomed moves to increase access to university.

Applications for undergraduate courses starting in 2025 open on Tuesday 14 May.

The tool should allow students to search a course and see the most common grades held by those accepted on to it in previous years, alongside the highest and lowest grades.

It should show the ratio of how many students were offered a place compared with how many applied, and allow students to put in A-level or BTec grades to see what percentage of applicants with those grades were previously accepted.

A mock-up of the new tool shows the data it should display for any given undergraduate course

Ucas said it hoped to "increase transparency" and give students a better understanding of how their grades, or predicted grades, compare with those of previous successful applicants to the courses they hope to study.

Students who get free school meals will also no longer have to pay the £28.50 application fee.

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.

"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.

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.

The historical grade data will be visible using the Ucas course search tool.

The change is the 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.

Ucas said that 19.1% of 18-year-olds eligible for free school meals in England go on to university, compared with 36.4% of those who do not claim them.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of UUK, welcomed the decision to waive the application fee for pupils on free school meals.

"The university sector has made great strides towards expanding opportunity, but there is much further to go, and it is clear that affordability is a real barrier," she said.

"It would be nothing short of a tragedy if someone chose not to apply to university because they couldn’t afford the Ucas application fee."