Record number of students secure university place

Record numbers of students have been offered university places, as the latest A-level results show the gap between boys and girls achieving the top grades has narrowed for the first time in five years.

Meanwhile the phenomenon of freebies and inducements being dangled in front of students to take up those places is also on the rise.

Nina Nannar reports from Sheffield:

Universities have taken thousands of calls from students through the clearing system as teenagers try to match their results with a place at university.

The call centre set up to help students ringing Sheffield University had around 100 operators working on Thursday who had taken 1,800 calls within two hours of opening.

The university said that within a couple of hours of the lines opening, 360 offers were made to students through the clearing and adjustment helpline.

Christina Edgar, head of student recruitment services at Sheffield University, said: "It's really about another opportunity to apply and make the right choice. It's about matching the application with the right course."

Twins Luke and Kieran Fowler put sibling rivalry aside to help each other to A-level success.

The pair, who both studied at Nottingham High School, shared two A*s and three As between them and both will be off to university.

Luke, who received A*s in geography and economics and an A in history, edged out brother Kieran in terms of grades - but said he took harder subjects so will forgive his brother's performance.

Luke is now heading to the University of Newcastle to do history. He said: "There wasn't any rivalry really. We helped each other more than anything.

"We shared notes for the subjects we did together and helped each other revise."

He added: "It is good to have the better grades though. It's a sense of victory."

A record number of A-level students have achieved a place at university, the chief executive of Ucas has said.

Mary Curnock Cook said 424,000 students will be offered their first or second choice of degree course.

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are now 7% more likely to go to university, following a drive in social mobility.

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "It's 424,000 placed - the highest ever on A-level results day. It's up 3% on last year."

"It does mean that young people now are something like 4% more likely to be going to university because, although the population was down a bit this year we've actually seen a rise in the numbers, so that's really good news."