Results and Clearing 2024

Record number of Scottish students receive their first choice at university

According to Ucas figures, more than 30,000 Scottish applicants (all ages) have gained a place at their firm choice university after receiving their results. This is a 6% increase from 2023 and most encouraging to see is 1,950 of 17 and 18-year-olds from the 20% most deprived postcodes (SIMD20) have been accepted, up from 1,790 (+9%) last year.

However, the day was not without drama as around 7,000 students received a blank email for their results. This was resolved by 10am and only affected those students who had opted email only to receive their results, but nevertheless added to the worry of the morning for many.

Scottish students came to The Student Room throughout the day, sharing results and seeking advice.

"I have received my SQA results but the email does not show any of my results"

"i got 6 As at Higher. I’m very pleased with my results, especially for physics since I felt the exam went questionably. Thankfully everything has gone well 😊."

"i got 3 A's (chem, politics, sociology) in my highers and an F in AH bio, missed my offer but will go through clearing"

(26 July - 2 Aug 2024 poll - 256 responses)

Students are feeling in a good place ahead of Results Day

We have been running a variety of polls with our student community since exams finished and aside some clangers of exams (A-Level Physics Paper 2 – yes, we mean you!), the majority of poll respondents have been feeling quietly confident about what Results Day will bring.

Less than a month out from Results Day, 56% of students said they felt they had met or exceeded the grades they need for university. This is just slightly more optimistic than the same poll we ran in 2023 when 52% responded feeling the same. A recent Ucas survey tells a similar story - with 70% of their respondents confident they would meet or exceed their predicted grades. Their survey was taken in May before the end of all exams, so the drop between our polls could be because post-exams and during the waiting window, nerves are setting in as the day draws closer.

We then polled students on The Student Room asking what they would do if they missed their grades. Finding something in Clearing came out as the top choice for such a scenario, and is encouraging to see that they know what alternate pathways are available should they need to pivot to a Plan B.

Elsewhere on site, Official Reps, alongside our Community Team and volunteers have been trying to reduce those pre-results nerves. This recent thread is a great example of the community coming together on site to squash any negative connotations with Clearing and ensure students are results proud.

Let's talk Clearing

Looking back at TSR Insight data from May, students said that if they found themselves in Clearing, they were more likely to stick with their original course at a different university than choose a different course at their preferred university.

This type of sentiment has also been seen in our Clearing database with more students registering subject area interest than location - opting to keep their uni location open. In the last 60 days, Uni & uni course forums have seen an 18% increase in posting - which seems to be driven by Clearing chatter happening in course based areas of the site. A glimpse at some of the conversations include:

How likely is it that Law courses would be in clearing this year?

I have applied to odp and all 5 of my choices are odp.......i want to do optometry instead. What should i do?

So I got only one offer for architecture with AAB predicted. I am likely to get this grade, if not better, on results day on the 18th. Was just wondering if anyone could help explain how clearing works exactly, and thing I can do to prepare for it? Because the only offer I got was for a deferred entry, and I was hoping to go this year.  

(TSR Insight survey May 2024 - 193 responses - multiple choice options)

And then there are those who are having second thoughts about where in the country they want to study:

So, I know I am going to sound demonstrably stupid, but I’ve realised I’ve applied to all the wrong unis. I live in London and a few months ago I really thought I wanted to leave London for uni but I have recently really changed my mind. But, I applied to all non-London unis (all 5 choices).  

Data: Past 60 days. Subject % of total uni course forum page views (2023 vs 2024)

Data: 28th July - 4th August 2024

Course is king in the lead up to Results Day

We've been keeping a close eye on where students have been visiting on our university course forums for trends these past few weeks. The usual suspects feature at the top for page views such as Law, Computer Science, Engineering and Economics. What is encouraging to see though are subjects such as Performing Arts and Music and Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy also up there in the top viewed subject forums in the past 30 days.

When it comes to popular subject areas for Clearing alerts, the top five comprise of Medicine, Law, Computer Science, Psychology and Engineering.

There are a number of growth subjects of this same database compared to 2023, but just a few to note are Sociology, Criminology and Other Social Sciences showing a huge 105% growth YoY and Nursing is up 43% in number of opt-ins, which is a really positive sign given the difficult few years that sector has had for recruitment.

Interest in Apprenticeships also continues to rise YoY. Showing strong growth in traffic to those pages in 2023, this year has seen a further 18% growth in pageviews across the past 60 days and 1,500 posts+ in the forum.

For further numbers on traffic and data around specific subjects please get in touch with the team who will be happy to assist.

#FindYourFuture

The next few weeks will see staff and our community volunteers answering questions about the day itself, celebrating student successes and supporting those who did not do as expected.

Our volunteers have done an amazing job as always, ensuring threads are set up to support students no matter the outcome. We're also looking forward to seeing university Official Reps on site over the coming weeks, so together we can ensure students are encouraged, supported and prepared to take the next steps in their lives. We've got a variety of threads live to show students that whatever grades they achieve, they can #findyourfuture. Some of these include: 

Personal Stories from Clearing

Mega Clearing FAQ Thread

Universities Clearing Directories

The weekend was a busy one on The Student Room. The most viewed articles on site were:

1. University phone numbers and contact details for Ucas Clearing 2024
2. How to get the best out of your Clearing call
3. Guide to Clearing 2024

The countdown thread is also buzzing with more than 10,000 page views over the past 4 days (Fri-Mon) The main emotion from those in the poll featured on this thread is ’Nervous’ at 26% with another 20% feeling scared.

These past few days leading up to results, we have had some nervous posters

“Pretty nervous for tomorrow as i need 120 ucas points for the course i'd like to do at Uni of Leicester however i'm not sure i've achieved that after my psych paper lol.”

Posters with a summer of reflection and still no further in making a decision

“I really don’t know what to do. Clearing is tomorrow and I still can’t decide if I want to go to uni , I’m so torn and in a decision paralysis. Ive been thinking about it all summer but still can’t come to a decision. It’s really affecting my mental health , and both options are giving me anxiety.”

And this student just said what a lot were thinking...

“Results day is tomorrow. Anyone else feel like they want to throw up?”

We also had those in early celebrations and planning their next steps as undergraduates!
"Hi all! Super lucky to have gotten into Stirling university- starting September 9th. I can’t lie I’m nervous because I know literally nobody who is going there 😭. Anyway I’m going to do criminology & sociology! How about you?"

This is an anxious time, and our TSR volunteers, community staff and teams from Student Minds and Papyrus will all be on site in the coming days to talk to students online and provide advice and reassurance.

Reports this morning show 82% of students have successfully got into their first choice - an increase of 3% from 2023. These results this morning mean around 376,470 students got into their first, or firm, choice. 💜

Ucas has also confirmed 27,600 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK have accepted a place, up 7% from last year. This figure marks a 4% increase from the previous record of 26,650 in 2021.

The top three subjects with the largest increase in total placed applicants are engineering and technology (+11% on 2023), architecture, building and planning (+9%) and law (+9%).

Overall A-level outcomes in comparison with 2023:
A* up by 0.4pp
A*- A up by 0.6pp
A*- E down by 0.1pp

All regions showed an increase in achieving Grade A with the North East and West Midlands showing the largest rises, both up 1.9% from 2023.

How are students feeling

On-site this morning (up till midday when published) the student sentiment score on site was at 7.2, up from 5.1 which we recorded Monday-Wednesday this week and an increase from Results morning 2023 when it sat at 6.9. This shows a shift towards more optimistic and positive conversations with Results now in the hands of students.

Throughout this morning there have been celebrations, missed offers and Clearing chatter...

I’m so happy I got into my firm uni and will be studying midwifery 😭😭😭

I unfortunately didn’t get the grades for my firm or insurance but my firm choice decided to let me still do it but with a foundation year

Been given an offer but it has foundation year, gonna try clearing. Everyone wish me luck

I just got accepted into my firm university for the accounting and finance course… Should I still go or should I just go into clearing and find other, more better options. Would love for some advice since the clearing courses are being taken fast.

I called a university early in the morning about a course through clearing, how long before they get back to me with the offer, I gave all my details and they made verbal offer, they also gave me a reference code, so does that mean I have secured a place?

Official Rep shout-outs

Our Ucas trained Clearing and Applications advisers have been on site all week.

There has also been some great interaction from Official Reps in the past few days with just a couple of shout-outs including:

CCCU – doing a great job on this thread, supporting a student who isn't looking at them, responding more than once and generally being super supportive to a student – well done CCCU!

Then a combo of Reps from BCU, Wrexham, Bradford and Uclan all pitched in to offer a student support with this thread “Results day is in 3 days and I am so petrified”

More helpful and informative advice from BCU helping a student this morning

University of Exeter providing a great reply to this student

University of Bath helping a student and also tagging Westminster

Mixed emotions in our snap poll

Yesterday saw 51% of polled students receive grades lower than they expected. This sentiment of our users is to be expected as we'd naturally see more of a balanced mix coming to The Student Room on Results day. Aside those celebrating, students know they can come to us for advice on alternative options and general support when they haven't got what they were hoping for.

It wasn't just online we were offering advice yesterday. Jasminne, our Community Manager also featured on BBC Radio 1 throughout the day, offering advice to students.

Poll from past 24 hours - 352 responses

Site activity on Results Day

It was a busy one across the site, with more than 239,000 words written across the day on posts. As the day unfolded, by lunchtime we had seen traffic increases from:

• Mature students +28%
• Disabled students +27%
• Apprenticeship communities +78%
• BTEC community +10%

And lets not forget the parents, also jumping on site for some help supporting their children...

Which department do you contact if you miss your offer from Durham please? Is it general admissions or the faculty itself (in my daughter’s case, law)? I appreciate that the universities have the results already but it might be worth a call. Thank you in advance

We also saw lots of talk about starting uni now they had confirmation and the excitement and nerves that come with that. Below are just a handful of threads created:

Decision time

There is so much chatter happening on site this week it’s hard to pull just a few examples. We know that The Student Room is a place students feel they can come and discuss whatever is on their minds but in this past week the need for approval of their uni choices or support in helping them make a decision quickly is also prevalent. Posts are covering everything from:

Grades being better than expected opening up different options...

"Did much better than expected at A-level, don't know what to do"

"I got better grades than I needed for my firm, should I reject it?"

Receiving multiple offers through Clearing and the students feeling the pressure to decide quickly...

"Unsure on which uni to pick"

"Clearing - Five offers through Clearing, which seems like the best fit"

"Please help me choose my uni"

In terms of other discussions, there is lots of talk around student accommodation - from those who went through Clearing or looking at remarks etc. They are either seeking accommodation, looking for opinions on accommodation, or advice on what their next steps should be.

As expected, uni Official Reps have been there throughout, with their feel good vibes and positive words…

User @oiapoia had worries about how their Clearing interview went but Reps including Portsmouth, NU London and University of South Wales tried to calm nerves and all turned out well as they came back online two days later to tell everyone they had gained a place!

Exeter Rep gave some solid advice in this detailed response to an incoming new student!

Then this post shows a mix of university reps sharing some words of encouragement for a student.

Another shout-out goes to the Strathclyde ambassador who addressed concern from a user who missed a grade with some great detailed advice and guidance.

This word cloud shows some of the most popular terms used 15th-18th August on site.

What articles students have been reading

It's also really interesting to see that since the weekend, the most viewed articles on The Student Room are starting to shift. As we showed above, on Results Day they were very focused on Clearing and resit information as we would expect. Some of these remain as students navigate their options but since Saturday, the excitement and planning has begun for students with a place confirmed and some more Fresher focused articles are moving up the charts. Sneaking in at number five is also an article around Personal Statements - with the 2025 cohort starting to get organised for the start of term.

Our Year 11 audience has really thrived this year, especially since revision and exams in the spring. In the past 7 days, on the lead up to Results Day we've seen a huge 469% increase in posts from a Year 11 audience. Our GCSE Post Your Results Thread has student sharing their grades this morning...

Very pleased because I was expecting to have to resit maths 🎉 But not only did I pass, I got a 6!

My grades are good but I’m disappointed that they are lower than my predictions but most of them are 1-5 marks less than the next grade

ALL 9S BABY!! higher tier edexcel maths got nothing on me

GCSE Results Day – Results analysis

On GCSE Results Day 2024, grades remained stable with the top grades, those 7 to 9, showing just a 0.04 percentage point increase compared to 2023.

Taking a regional view, the results gap between London and the North East of England has narrowed for the first time since 2016. In London, 28.5% of entries were awarded 7/A or higher this year, up slightly from 28.4% in 2023, while for north-east England the figure was 17.8%, up from 17.6%.

Six of the nine regions of England saw a rise this year in the proportion of GCSE entries awarded grade 7 or above. Elsewhere, Northern Ireland has recorded 31.0% of entries this year awarded 7 or above and Wales 19.2%

In terms of subjects, the top ten have remained the same as expected. The most popular subject in terms of entries this year was the science double award, with a total of 980,786 entries, up 4.8% on 2023. Art and Design, the 8th most popular subject has seen a 5.4% increase in subject entries after suffering a decline in recent years. It's great to see this subject gaining more popularity again.

ALL 9s I CANT BELIEVE IT - I had panic attacks before a few of my exams, so much so I was reconsidering siting them, while I came home after so many in tears thinking I did poorly. Little did I know a reporter would be interviewing me since I was the only one in my year! After all my anxiety, this really feels unreal. Well done to all of you, you deserve your happiness and worked so hard for today. Good luck for the future x )

Bro I got 141/160 and I didn’t do the unseen poetry Q2. AQA gave me a gift.