University cities across the UK are set to see an unprecedented number of freshers descend on them next month after a record high for top grades in A-levels.
Some 44.8% of A-level students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received A* or A grades in 2021, an increase of more than 75% since the last time conventional exams were taken in 2019.
The high level of pass marks means that some universities and courses are now oversubscribed, leading to students being asked to move to another institution or defer their studies for a year (with a sizeable financial incentive), or being put up in student accommodation miles away from their chosen place of study.
Earlier this month, Bristol University, which saw the number of applicants who met their offer grades rise to 75% from a usual level of 46%, said it would be forced to house some students 13 miles away in Bath.
While 2021 is likely to be something of an anomaly in terms of pass grades, exclusive figures compiled for EG by Knight Frank show that just two of the UK’s top university towns have enough purpose-built student accommodation to house even half of their full-time students.
According to Knight Frank, only Oxford and Sheffield have sufficient specialist accommodation for the majority of their student population.
Oxford fares best with 22,918 PBSA beds, enough to house some 69% of its 33,430-strong full-time student population, while Sheffield has 27,687 beds providing accommodation for 53% of its student population.
Brighton takes top stop in the ranking of university cities most underserved with purpose-built student properties. It has just 8,200 beds for a student population of 33,384, meaning some three-quarters are unable to access specialist accommodation.
It is followed by Glasgow and Edinburgh, with 69% of the student population in each city being unable to access purpose-built student accommodation. London has the biggest shortfall in terms of student numbers, with 94,764 beds to service 297,365 full-time students, leaving 202,601 students (68%) having to look for accommodation elsewhere.
Similarly affected are Canterbury and Birmingham, with PBSA being out of the reach of 66% of students in each city. Canterbury has just 10,790 PBSA beds for 31,792 students, while Birmingham has 24,953 beds for 72,503 students. Bristol has enough beds for just 36% of its full-time students.
Matthew Bowen, head of residential investment research at Knight Frank, said: “Data from A-level results day shows that the number of students with a confirmed place at their first-choice university is up by 8% on 2020.
“This year, this cohort represents 91% of students with a confirmed place on the day. For operators of PBSA, this means more students knowing exactly where they are going to be studying earlier on in the cycle, creating a much stronger position for operators than at this point last year.”
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