Application outcomes for Key Stage 4 population
41 . In this section , we present summary statistics for the five application outcomes across the Key Stage 4 population , starting from 2012 , five years before Uni Connect was launched , through to 2021 , four years into the programme . We use this relatively long time series to consider recent trends within the broader context of how application and participation rates were changing before the programme was introduced .
42 . As previously stated , the two most recent cohorts of learners in this analysis were applying ( or at least receiving offers ) during the COVID-19 pandemic , in the 2020 and 2021 application cycles respectively . The findings which relate to these two most recent cohorts of applicants should be viewed within this wider context .
43 . The application rate measures the level of demand for higher education among school and college leavers . As shown in Table 2 , it has increased each year , from 31.4 per cent in the 2012 application cycle to 42.6 per cent in the 2021 cycle . This is reflected by a similar increase in placed rates , which have risen from 25.8 per cent in 2012 to 37.3 per cent in 2021 . Similarly , the proportion of the Key Stage 4 population applying to the most selective – ‘ high tariff ’ – universities and colleges has also increased , from 17.4 per cent in 2012 to 29.3 per cent in 2021 . The Uni Connect programme was launched in 2017 , during this period of year-on-year increases .
44 . Across all these years , the offer rate was high . By the time that Uni Connect launched in 2017 , 98.1 per cent of applicants received at least one offer . Similarly , a high proportion of applicants were accepted by the end of each year , standing at 87.6 per cent in the 2021 application cycle .
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