Scottish pupils face late entry to scramble for places

Thousands of Scottish students were last night still waiting for crucial exam results, despite assurances that checks would be completed in time for the start of the annual scramble for university places.

Thousands of Scottish students were last night still waiting for crucial exam results, despite assurances that checks would be completed in time for the start of the annual scramble for university places.

Officials at the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said 2,800 students still had not received their final grades after being sent incomplete results last week.

Universities are holding open places for students with offers, but admissions officers warned that those who missed their grades would enter clearing days behind thousands of other applications.

Initial Ucas figures showed that 134,785 students were still waiting for decisions from universities and colleges by lunchtime yesterday, up from 119,118 at this point last year.

Tony Higgins, Ucas chief executive, said: "Most of these applicants need certain exam grades to meet the conditions of their offers, so the universities and colleges cannot make decisions about them until they have got their full results. That means the applicants are having to wait to find out if they have their places or if they are going into clearing.

"The Scottish Qualifications Authority has assured us that it will have finished checking exam results tonight. We hope to receive the missing results as soon as possible so that those decisions can be made."

Last night it emerged that universities expect many exam results not to be finalised until next week, well into clearing.

Sam Galbraith, the Scottish Education Minister, has ordered an independent inquiry into the results chaos, which will report directly to him.

So far Ucas has confirmed 192,140 places and planned to send letters to about 100,000 applicants in last night's post.

* Applicants concerned about their applications were advised to contact the Ucas helpline on 01242 227788.