York St John University in student accommodation guarantee

This year A-level and AS results are out on Thursday (August 15), while GCSE results will be released on August 22.

Ucas figures show there has been a rise in the number of UK 18-year-olds applying to university, which the admissions service has suggested shows a desire among young people to stay in eductation.

But industry experts have predicted that British universities will be competing for school and college leavers on A-level results day in a bid to fill their places amid financial pressures.

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For those who don’t get the grades they need, want to swap courses, or just make a last-minute decision to do a degree, Clearing is open to match them with available university places.

Matthew Taylor, director of marketing, student recruitment and admissions at York St John University said that they have announced that applicants who apply through Clearing on results day and accept their offer within 24 hours will be guaranteed university accommodation.

Mr Taylor said: “With York consistently named one of the best cities to live in in the UK, it’s understandable that there is a lot of demand for places.

"Choosing your university course is hard enough without worrying that you’ve left it too late to get accommodation sorted.

“I'm delighted that we can announce our 24 hour accommodation offer to hopefully take some of the worry out of the process.

“We work closely with partner providers to plan ahead for expected numbers and for 2024 we've been able to offer an accommodation place to all our applicants so far. On top of this, we can guarantee accommodation to those who apply to us on results day and accept their offers within 24 hours.”

York St John University has announced that applicants who apply through Clearing on results day and accept their offer within 24 hours will be guaranteed university accommodation (Image: York St John University)

York St John will be opening its dedicated Clearing call centre at 8am on Thursday with specially trained advisors available until 7pm to offer support and advice.

You can contact the team via clearing@yorksj.ac.uk or via the Clearing Hotline 01904 809700. 

This year students in England will also receive results for T-level qualifications – which were launched to provide high-quality technical alternatives to A-levels – on August 15.

Thousands of pupils will also receive results for vocational technical qualifications (VTQs) this month.

Results for VTQs at Level 3 taken alongside or instead of A-levels, such as BTecs, will be released to students on or before August 15.

Results for many Level 2 VTQs are expected on or before August 22.

Last year, 27.2 per cent of UK A-level entries achieved an A or above, down on 2022 when the figure was 36.4 per cent.

However, this was still higher than in 2019 – the last year that summer exams were taken before the pandemic – when 25.4% of entries were awarded A or A* grades.

The aim to return to pre-pandemic grading comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.