The total number of UK students entering higher education with vocationally related qualifications has grown, according to UCAS’ 2019 End of Cycle qualifications report (chapter 8).

Rise in applied general qualifications

The number of applicants holding an applied general qualification, such as a Cambridge Technical, has increased. There were 76% (4,475) more UK 18 year old applicants holding an OCR Cambridge Technical in 2019 than in 2017, either on its own or in combination with an A Level.

Diversity of qualifications

Students applied to higher education with over 750 different qualifications in 2019. 58% of UK 18-year-olds applied with A Levels alone – down 1.2% on 2018. The number of UK 18 year old applicants holding the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) has increased 14.8% since 2017 to 37,095.

Predicted grades

43.2% of accepted applicants missed their predicted grades by three or more grades – up from 37.9% the previous year. On average, 18-year-old UK students studying A Levels are predicted 2.35 A Level grades above their achieved grades.

Unconditional offers

In 2019, 25.1% (64,825) of UK 18-year-olds received at least one unconditional offer – up from 20.9% in 2018. However, applicants holding unconditional offers are now less likely to choose this as their firm choice than in the past (20.6% in 2019 compared with 25.6% in 2014). As last year, applicants with an unconditional firm choice are more likely to miss their predicted grades (57% compared with 43% of applicants holding a conditional firm offer).

Offers and acceptance rates up

Students had more chance of receiving an offer of a higher education place than ever before and 86% of applicants (464,335 UK 18-year-olds) were accepted into higher education (up 1.1% on last year). Clearing has become an increasingly popular entry route.