More Of You Than Ever Will Go To Uni This Year

Hundreds of thousands of teens have woken up this morning to get their A-level results and whether they've been forcing a tearful smile between gritted teeth for their parents camera or smugly grinning at it, university admissions offices are going to be very happy. Every August, headlines say there are more people going to uni and this year is no different. More students than ever have got a university place.

Ucas say that 424,000 places have been offered which is an increase of 3 percent on this day last year. This will increase too with places taken through clearing.

But alongside this, top A-level results have fallen. The proportion of A* and A grades was 25.8 percent, down by 0.1 percent on last year. Besides a slight lack of high flyers, girls still did better than boys , with 79.7 percent of girls getting an A*-C, compared with 75 percent for boys.

Why, then, are there so many more people actually getting places? Unis have said this year could be a "buyer's market" for application due to the removal of the cap on the number of places universities in England can offer. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean quality places with plentiful resources and teaching. But it does mean loads more people can go.

So if you're packing up to go to Nottingham in September, remember: well done, have fun and you're not that special.

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