2024 UCAS Clearing Update: 28 Days After Results Day

Key findings:

• The proportion of accepted students by domicile remains consistent with the previous year, with 88% from the UK, 10% from non-EU countries, and the remainder originating from Europe
• Total acceptances are up 0.9% this year with most of this growth coming from the UK, which is up 1.1% on last year
• EU acceptances have dropped again this year, down 0.8% from 2023 and continuing a downward trend since 2018
• Non-EU acceptances are also down for a second year in a row, decreasing by 0.5% from 2023
• China accounts for ~20% of international acceptances, with India making up ~9%
• High tariff providers equate to ~35% of acceptances, with numbers up 7.8% from 2023
• Low and medium tariff provider acceptances continue a downward trend despite a peak in 2022
• International students still have a strong preference for high tariff institutions, with EU and non-EU making up over 20% of acceptances, compared to ~5% for low tariff

Source: UCAS

This year reverses a downward trend in both domestic and overall acceptances from a peak in 2021. Total acceptances are up 0.9% from last year, with this growth driven by UK student acceptance numbers which have seen a 1.1% increase from 2023. EU students have continued to fall since 2018 with a decrease of 0.8% from 2023. Non-EU student acceptances have fallen for a second year in a row, down 0.5% from 2023.

Source: UCAS

Looking at China, India and Nigeria, which combined constitute approximately 40% of Non-EU acceptances in 2024, numbers are down for all from 2023. While acceptances from Chinese students tripled in the 2015-2022 period, numbers are down 1.9% from 2023 and down 10.9% since peak - which could signal the start of a continued downward trend. Indian students have similarly increased year-on-year since 2015, but are down 3.8% from 2023.

While Nigerian student acceptances have seen fluctuations since 2015, acceptances have peaked in 2022 and declined since - similar to China in the past 5 years - with numbers down 31.4% from 2023.

Source: UCAS

Higher tariff providers have increased in acceptance numbers again this year, up 7.8% from last year and 8.2% from a 2022 low, representing 35.3% of all 2024 acceptances. Medium and Lower tariff providers have declined again this year in a downward trend since a peak in 2022, illustrating that there is a general shift towards higher tariff institutions. Medium tariff institutions have remained mostly consistent with last year and a small drop of 0.5%, while lower tariff institutions have seen a more significant decline of 4.4% from 2023.

Source: UCAS

Source: UCAS

International students are still showing a strong preference for high tariff institutions, making up over 20% of all acceptances in this category. Both EU and Non-EU acceptances are up 2.8% from 2023. While acceptances for UK students in high tariff institutions have fluctuated over the past decade, UK students have shown a strong preference in 2024, with numbers up 9.3% from 2023.

Source: UCAS

Source: UCAS

Domestic students still make up the majority of acceptances from low tariff institutions, at approximately 95%. While the UK, EU and Non-EU have all seen declines in 2024, Non-EU showed the largest drop at 13.6% down from 2023. Given the fluctuations in low tariff acceptances by domicile in the past decade, it is difficult to say whether this signals any longer term trends.

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