Most of the increase in Scottish applicants placed has come from the older age groups – there are an extra 1,000 accepted Scottish applicants aged 20 and over.
There are 12,600 Scottish 18 year old applicants placed, unchanged from last year despite the population falling by 2.2%. The proportion of young people entering higher education, the ‘entry rate’, has increased to 21.3%, the highest level recorded on SQA results day.
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) groups the population by where they live. For Scottish applicants of all ages there are 3,800 (+5%) placed from the most deprived areas (SIMD quintile 1), representing 13.4% of all Scottish applicants placed through UCAS today.
The entry rate for young people living in the most deprived areas has increased from 8.2% to 8.8% but young people living in the least deprived areas remain over four times more likely to enter.
Overall recruitment to universities and colleges in Scotland totals 34,600; up 6%. Acceptances from the EU have increased by 600 (+19%) to 3,900.
SQA results day is an important statistical reference point as a large majority of Scottish applicants are placed by this day. More Scottish applicants will be placed at providers throughout the UK over the coming weeks, typically more than 5,000, which will change the results.
Updated analysis on Scottish applicants, universities, and colleges will be provided daily on ucas.com from 18 August 2016.
Applicants can log in to Track on the UCAS website this morning to see if they have been accepted or are eligible for Clearing – and they’ll be able to make a formal Clearing choice from 10:00.
After checking their status in Track, eligible applicants can browse Clearing vacancies on the UCAS website. They’ll need to call universities and colleges beforehand to discuss courses that interest them, in search of a provisional offer.
All of the information students need is on the UCAS website and our Social Media Team is also ready to help applicants on Twitter and Facebook.
Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS’ Chief Executive said: “Congratulations to everyone who has secured a place at their chosen university or college in Scotland. These figures are an encouraging snapshot of Scottish higher education, particularly as a large majority of the country’s applicants are placed by this stage.
“Anyone without a place, for whatever reason, should stay positive and consider all the options, including Clearing. My advice is to call universities for a discussion about the courses you’re interested in, and remember that the UCAS website has lots of information to help.”
In 2015, 1,750 Scottish students found a place through Clearing.
Students also have the option of applying again for entry next year and courses beginning in 2017 are now available to view in the UCAS search tool.
A full suite of statistical reports looking at country, age, and subject group have been published on the UCAS website this morning.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
In Scotland there is a substantial section of provision that is not included in UCAS' figures. This is mostly full-time higher education provided in further education colleges which represents around one third of young full-time undergraduate study in Scotland, and this proportion varies by geography and background within Scotland.
From the 2015 cycle onwards, applications to postgraduate teacher training programmes in Scotland were included in the UCAS Undergraduate admissions scheme, previously these were recruited through UCAS Teacher Training. In 2015, around 120 courses at providers in Scotland moved into the UCAS Undergraduate scheme, estimated to represent around 2,000 acceptances, mostly aged 21 or over. Comparisons between 2016 and 2014 (or earlier cycles) will be affected by this change.
The date of SQA results day is five days later than in 2015. This could mean that the numbers of placed applicants are greater than in previous years at this point, particularly for those applicants whose main qualification may have been awarded before today. This is unlikely to have an impact to the reported statistics for 18 year old Scottish students who were most likely to have received results today.
About UCAS: UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is a charity and the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education. We manage applications from over 700,000 applicants each year, for full-time undergraduate courses at around 380 universities and colleges across the UK.
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