For students deciding their next step on A-level results day, the university market has rarely been more complicated — or offered greater choice.
Tuition fees for the 2026-27 academic year will reach £9,790, with a further increase to £10,050 already scheduled for 2027-28.
Once accommodation and other living expenses are included, the typical student in England can expect to leave university with more than £50,000 in loan debt.
At the same time, graduate recruitment has become increasingly competitive.
A degree is no longer viewed as an automatic route into a well-paid career, making the choice of both university and subject more consequential than ever.
The question parents and students are asking
For families preparing to make a decision through Clearing, the central question is increasingly straightforward: will a university degree deliver enough value to justify its cost?
The answer depends heavily on where, and what, a student chooses to study.
Jacqui Smith, the government’s skills minister responsible for higher education, has urged prospective students not to treat university as an automatic next step.
While she described higher education as potentially transformative, she also warned that not every degree offers the same value.
Her message is particularly relevant during Clearing, when students have an unusually broad range of institutions and courses from which to choose.
Clearing offers more opportunities than before
Clearing has traditionally been associated with students who missed their original university offers. That picture is changing.
Around 80,000 university places are available through Clearing this year, while more than 23,000 applicants have waited until results day to enter the process.
Some students will be searching for a place after missing their original grades.
Others are deliberately entering Clearing after achieving better-than-expected results and looking to “trade up” to a university or course they now believe is within reach.
The number of places available through Clearing has risen by 3.6% year on year, intensifying competition between universities while giving students greater bargaining power.
The Russell Group is opening its doors
One of the biggest changes is the growing presence of Russell Group universities in Clearing.
Eighteen of the 24 institutions in the research-intensive group are now active in post-results recruitment — a striking development compared with previous years, when Clearing places at elite universities were relatively uncommon.
Admissions figures show just how quickly some of these institutions have expanded.
Between 2023 and 2025, undergraduate recruitment increased by 51% at University College London, 47% at Durham, 33% at York, 32% at Liverpool, 26% at Warwick and 25% at Leeds.
Across the Russell Group as a whole, undergraduate recruitment increased by around 26,000 students over the same period.
That expansion means students who might previously have assumed that prestigious universities were beyond their reach may now have another opportunity.
Prestige is not the only measure of success
However, the growing availability of Russell Group places does not mean that the most famous university is automatically the best choice.
A focus on graduate employment reveals some surprising performers outside the traditional elite.
Worcester, for example, has been named the Daily Mail’s University of the Year for Graduate Jobs.
Around 80% of its graduates move into high-skilled employment, placing it 11th nationally on that measure.
Its strong performance is partly linked to healthcare and teacher-training programmes, areas in which the university has established expertise.
Cumbria, Derby, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and Teesside are among the other modern universities whose graduate employment performance places them ahead of several Russell Group institutions.
A different way to judge universities
The Daily Mail’s 2026 Clearing Guide is designed around the idea that university rankings should reflect what students actually need from higher education.
Instead of relying solely on traditional measures of reputation or research, its rankings examine factors including graduate employment, salaries, student experience, financial support and lifestyle.
Three employment indicators receive particular attention: the proportion of graduates entering high-skilled jobs, their earnings 15 months after graduation and whether graduates believe their careers are progressing in the right direction.
This allows students to assess universities according to their own priorities rather than simply accepting a fixed league table.
Students can build their own rankings
The guide’s University Finder allows prospective students to adjust the importance given to different performance measures.
Someone primarily concerned with employment, for example, can increase the weighting given to graduate job prospects and salaries while reducing the importance of other criteria.
The result can produce a very different picture from conventional rankings — one in which less familiar universities compete directly with Britain’s best-known institutions.
That can be particularly valuable for Clearing applicants, who may have more flexibility than students applying through the traditional admissions cycle.
Subject choice can change the picture again
University rankings can also look very different when they are broken down by subject.
The guide includes 79 subject tables covering a broad range of degree options.
Some of the leaders are institutions that would not necessarily be the first names considered by applicants.
Cumbria, for example, tops the table for biomedical sciences, while Birmingham City performs strongly in music and Robert Gordon leads for physiotherapy.
For students with a clear career ambition, such subject-specific performance may ultimately be more useful than an institution’s overall position.
The case for choosing carefully
The rising cost of higher education makes the traditional approach of simply choosing the most prestigious university available increasingly difficult to justify.
With tuition fees already approaching £10,000 a year and living costs adding considerably to the overall bill, students need to think about what they are likely to gain from their particular degree.
That means examining employment outcomes, course quality, student experience and financial support alongside reputation.
The government’s warning that not all degrees offer the same value reinforces the point: university should be a considered investment rather than an automatic destination after school.
A new era for Clearing
The scale of opportunity available this year suggests that Clearing has evolved far beyond its old reputation as a last resort.
With thousands of places available, more Russell Group universities participating and institutions competing aggressively for students, applicants have more leverage than in previous years.
For those prepared to look beyond familiar names, the process could reveal universities and courses with stronger employment outcomes, better subject performance or a better overall fit.
The challenge is no longer simply finding a university place. It is finding the right one.
What students should consider today
For anyone entering Clearing, the most important decision may be to resist the temptation to choose quickly simply because a place is available.
Look beyond university prestige. Compare the specific course, graduate employment outcomes, expected earnings, student experience and financial support.
Consider where graduates actually end up — and whether that destination matches your own ambitions.
With university costing more than ever, choosing carefully could make the difference between simply earning a degree and making a genuinely worthwhile investment in the years that follow.
