As of midnight, 24,800 Scottish applicants have been accepted into higher education through UCAS; an increase of 800 people, up 3% compared to SQA results day last year.
Almost all of these (24,000) have been placed at a Scottish university or college.
Most of the increase in placed Scottish applicants has come from older age groups – there are an extra 600 accepted Scottish applicants aged 20 and over (up 7%).
The number of 18 year old Scottish applicants placed (12,180) is almost the same as last year. However, this represents a slight increase in the young entry rate for Scotland because there has been a fall in the 18 year old population of around 2% this year.
Overall recruitment to universities and colleges in Scotland totals 30,280; up 1%. Acceptances from the EU have decreased by 10% to 3,130.
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 over the coming weeks which will change the results. Updated analysis on Scottish applicants, universities, and colleges will be provided daily on ucas.com from 13 August 2015.
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. This is earlier than in previous years.
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 are also ready to help applicants on Twitter and Facebook.
Mary Curnock Cook, Chief Executive at UCAS said: “Congratulations to everyone who has secured a place at their chosen university or college in Scotland.
“If you haven’t achieved exactly what you were expecting, stay positive and remember that the best way to succeed is to prepare thoroughly before calling universities for a discussion about the courses you’re interested in. The UCAS website has lots of information to help you, and as you’ll be spending several years studying, be sure you opt for a course that really excites you.”
Students also have the option of applying again for entry next year and courses beginning in 2016 are now available to view in the UCAS search tool.
In 2014, 1,330 Scottish students found a place through Clearing, and 1,130 of those went to providers in Scotland.
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
For this cycle we introduced a parallel set of context statistics that excludes, from all cycles, applications to teacher training courses at providers in Scotland. This is because a large set of teacher training courses in Scotland are being recruited through the UCAS Undergraduate scheme for the first time in 2015, having previously been recruited through UCAS Teacher Training.
The primary set of statistics describes all acceptances in the UCAS scheme. The context set of statistics (headline numbers quoted in this press release) gives a better ‘like for like’ comparison of 2015 to earlier cycles, particularly when looking at applicants from Scotland, providers in Scotland, or the Education subject group.
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 in Scotland.
Accordingly, the statistics on UCAS acceptances in these data resources reflect only that majority of full-time undergraduate study that uses UCAS Undergraduate.
UCAS Press Office contacts:
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