“The key thing is to make sure that every phone is answered,” says Kevin Betts, head of UK undergraduate recruitment at Sussex University. He’s sitting next door to the university’s clearing hub, where students and staff are lined up in rows wearing call centre headsets. Every so often someone waves a piece of red card that says “Offer”.
The university estimates that it will take a record more than 5,000 calls on Thursday. “We’re expecting more calls, more competition – and we’re expecting to fill more places,” said Betts.
Sussex isn’t the only university ramping up its clearing operation. More students are using this route to find a course – around 10% did so in 2014. This year the scramble to attract students is even more intense because the government has lifted the cap on the number of students universities can recruit.
Like many institutions, Sussex plans to take advantage of the policy change and expand – it hopes to increase its student body by almost 40% from 13,000 in 2013 to 18,000 in 2020.
A short walk from the university’s clearing hub, the final touches are being put to its Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts, one of a string of buildings to have been revamped or recently opened on campus. The university also hopes to build 4,022 new student rooms and 60,000 square metres of academic facilities.
Some Sussex residents aren’t happy about the prospect of 5,000 extra students moving to the area, although the university’s building plans were broadly approved by the planning inspectorate after an appeal process. Planning permission aside, the ultimate test for the university will be getting the right number of bums on seats.
Although the number of 18-year-olds is up slightly this year, the general trend is a downward one. “Everyone’s scrambling to fill more places with fewer people,” says Betts. “The market is already fairly saturated in terms of the number of 18-year-olds applying to university. Someone has to miss out.
“The competitive nature of it is interesting because we’ve got a standard to maintain so it’s not the case that we accept anyone in clearing, it’s about matching the right people to the right courses.”
Rob Evans, head of admissions at the university, adds that there is a growing pool of European students applying to Sussex but that the university is careful not to over-recruit. “There are some universities that have expanded very sharply in recent years and have struggled with housing. It’s important to monitor the numbers, but I personally find it less challenging than when there were number controls.”
Lewis Jones, who has just finished his third year studying law with business and is helping to take calls through clearing, says students aren’t always aware that universities are being more flexible. “This year we’ve accepted people who didn’t achieve the grades needed for their conditional offer, whereas I can remember in previous years talking to people who missed theirs but, even though they had really good grades, didn’t get into certain universities. The way the system works they’re not really aware of that.”
It’s an emotional day, he says. “I had someone earlier that was a bit of a mess, I just told her there are lots of options, and that I retook some of my A-levels and had a year out – which was a really good year for me. I think that makes them feel a bit better.”
But being able to tell people that they have got a place is the best part, said Jones. “I had one student – he thought I’d put him on hold, but I could hear him in the background saying, ‘I think I’m in, I think I’m in’, and then I said ‘you’re in’ – I could hear his whole family screaming in the background.”
