Research shows that nine of the Russell Group’s 24 elite institutions collectively paid out nearly £9m, suggesting the total figure could be even higher.
Places in the group, which includes Oxford and Cambridge, fill up quickly. But some took on too many students as the number of students earning A and A* grades increased due to leniency on A-level grading in the pandemic.
The University of Manchester paid a total of £195,000 in cash to students who applied to postpone their studies for a year.
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and University College London all offered a mix of cash and accommodation discounts. Leeds paid £10,000 to 275 students and offered to waive first-year accommodation costs. Durham gave 209 students £5,000 each, while 11 dental students in Cardiff received £15,000 and free accommodation for the first year.
At the University of Birmingham, 23 medical students were awarded £10,000 each to defer their place
The University of Manchester paid a total of £195,000 in cash, while 23 medical students in Birmingham received £10,000 each. The scale of the incentives was revealed through The Sunday Telegraph freedom of information requests, with almost 800 students paid to delay their entry until 2022.
Matt Western, a spokesman for Labor Universities, said it illustrated the ‘chaotic’ approach to exams during Covid.
He added: ‘The ball stops with the Government’.
A Russell Group spokesman said the ‘voluntary deferrals’ were ‘often for courses limited by the Government’.
