The Gap Year has been declared dead. It’s A-levels day today, and the annual
scramble for university places has been intensified ahead of next year’s tuition fees rise. According to this morning’s Times (£), the last count had 669,956 pupils sprinting after 470,000 vacancies. An estimated 50,000 students
with adequate grades will not enter higher education this year as many universities have raised entry requirements to manage increased demand. This means that competition during clearance will be
even more stiff than usual, particularly as universities will offer many fewer clearing places according to various surveys. Needless to say, UCAS’ website appears to have collapsed under the
weight of this unparalleled interest.
The irony is that if a pupil goes to university this year, they will pay more in fees once they’ve graduated, because the earnings threshold for repayments to begin will be raised from £18,000 to £21,000 for students of the 2012 vintage. The
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