Clarification needed over numbers of students who missed out on university place

Responding to the latest figures from UCAS, that showed a 5.6% rise in accepted applicants in 2009 compared with 2008, but an 8.7% rise in full-time undergraduate applicants, the union said it was concerned that a considerable, but, as yet imprecise, number of applicants appeared to miss out on a place at university.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'A rise in the number of students who have a place at university is to be welcomed. However, it is still not clear how many students missed out on a place this summer because of the fiasco over the number of additional student places. We urgently need clarification of the number of applicants who got the grades but were unable to get a place at university, as the "missed places" data is still unclear. This will be a key piece of data if the review into university funding is to be properly conducted.
 
'All parties need to guarantee fully-funded extra student places so we avoid any repeats of this summer's fiasco and individual institutions running the risk of being fined if they recruit too many students.'