Record numbers of students using UCAS services

14 August 2008

Position confirming applicants as of 11am

340,105 applicants have had their places confirmed so far, up 9.1% on last year.

2,628 applicants have so far gained a place through Clearing. This is up 6.5% on last year

111,388 applicants are currently eligible for clearing. This is 20% of all applicants which is the same as last year.

The total number of applicants at this point is 553,924.

There have been 307,906 searches of Clearing vacancies on the UCAS website so far.

Track - the service at ucas.com that applicants use to check their status - had received 451,331 logins by midday, peaking at 86 logins per second. The peak last year was 72 logins per second and the number of logins at this point was 387,430.

The UCAS helpine had received 6,160 calls by 1pm.

Anthony McClaran, UCAS Chief Executive commented:

"May I congratulate everyone who picked up their results today and give my best wishes to the many thousands who have had their places in higher education confirmed. Congratulations are also due to teachers - schools are undoubtedly better at preparing their students for the rigorous courses that they their students choose."

"I’d like to thank all of the staff at UCAS that have performed magnificently to support the process of confirming exam results over the weekend, manning the phones on our helpline and ensuring that our support services operate as effectively as possible."

"Our admissions colleagues in the universities and colleges have worked incredibly hard to ensure that, despite the very large rise in the number of applications, decisions are being made quicker than ever."

Media contacts

Byron Price, Communications Executive
Darren Barker, Communications Officer
Telephone: 01242 544987 or 01242 545723
Email: communications@ucas.ac.uk
Out of hours: 07768 740461