59 . The gap in placed rates between these two groups then widened more substantially for the two cohorts which applied or received offers during the COVID-19 pandemic , standing at 26.5 percentage points in 2021 . This was largely driven by substantial increases in placed rates in the most represented areas in the 2020 and 2021 application cycles , which was not reflected in underrepresented areas .
Figure 5 : Gaps in placed rates between POLAR3 quintiles 1 and 5
Offer rate
60 . The gap in offer rates between POLAR3 quintiles 1 and 5 , which is much smaller than gaps in the application outcomes presented above , has narrowed since 2012 .
61 . The offer rate is the proportion of applicants who receive at least one offer . Table 2 shows that offer rates have historically been very high for all school leavers : more than 97 per cent of applicants received at least one offer by the end of the 2016 UCAS application cycle .
62 . In all years since 2012 , there has been a gap in offer rates between learners from POLAR3 quintile 1 and quintile 5 areas , but by the time the Uni Connect programme launched in 2017 , it had already reduced to just 1.0 percentage point and then reduced further to stand at 0.4 percentage points in 2021 . In 2021 , 98.4 per cent of school leavers from POLAR3 quintile 1 areas received at least one offer compared with 98.8 per cent of school leavers from quintile 5 areas , as shown in Figure 6 .
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