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Ucas head Mary Curnock-Cook said some students may need to consider reapplying next year
Ucas head Mary Curnock-Cook said 13,000 students had been
placed in clearing, where they hoped to enter a course which still had
vacancies.
About 64,000 students were waiting to hear if their places had been confirmed.
She said the Ucas website received 644 hits per second on Thursday.
The unprecedented demand on the website prompted Ucas to take
down some parts of it, but Mrs Curnock-Cook said "critical systems were
100% available all the time".
These included the clearing vacancy search and the
application service for clearing which opened as expected at 18:00 BST
on Thursday.
The Ucas telephone helpline reopened at 09:00 BST.
Record applicants
Clearing is the system whereby those who fail to achieve the
necessary grades or did not get offered a place, can request one of the
remaining places.
However, there are fewer clearing places available this year as universities accept more applicants directly.
This year's university applications are the highest ever, at
682,000 (including international students), in the last year before many
UK universities raise tuition fees nearly threefold.
The number of applicants is about 1% higher than last year, Mrs Curnock-Cook said.
But the total number of places available is the same as last year.
Mrs Curnock-Cook said some students may need to consider reapplying next year.
"I think everyone knows that clearing places tend not to be
abundant for the very competitive and very selective courses, so the
places that are still be advertised - and we have 29,000 courses still
advertising vacancies - are a particular type of course.
"So, some students who have very good grades would be making the right decision if they decided to apply again next year."
A record 195,000 people - 10,000 more than this time last year - are eligible to compete for clearing places this year.
Record numbers - nearly 220,000 - would remain unplaced, she
said, although historically, nearly half of those either turn down
places or withdraw their applications.
Universities Minister David Willetts said students who failed
to get on courses could also look at the other options such as studying
part-time, with other organisations offering degrees, or by looking for
an apprenticeship.
He added: "You can also choose to reapply next year.
"Under our new reforms, graduates will have to make a greater
contribution towards the cost for their degree, but there will be more
generous financial support available while you study and fairer
repayment arrangements when you leave university."
Fee rise
From next year, universities in England will be charging
tuition fees of up to three times the present level of just over £3,000 a
year.
Welsh universities are also raising their fees to as much as
£9,000, although Welsh students will have the increase subsidised and
will pay little more than they do now, wherever they study in the UK.
Scottish students studying in Scotland pay no fees, but
Scottish universities plan to charge up to £9,000 a year for students
from other parts of the UK from 2012.
However, students studying there - and in Wales - from areas
of the EU outside of the UK will be treated the same as "local" students
and will not face the higher fees. This is because of European
legislation.
Northern Ireland's ministers have said there will be no major rise in fees in its universities in 2012.
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