Applicants to UK universities will be able to view historic entry grades data and offer rates for each course, it has been announced.

The?change is the latest of a series of new initiatives?launched by the admissions service Ucas to encourage more students from low-income families to apply for university.

Concerns have been raised in recent years about?stalling progress in widening participation efforts, with the?entry rate for those eligible for free school meals at its lowest level since 2019.

Previous Ucas research found nearly half of applicants were admitted with lower than published entry requirements.

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The new tool will show students both offer rates and the historic grades held by previous successful applicants on admission to a course, alongside the listed entry requirements published by universities.

It is intended to increase transparency around the admissions process and help students to make informed, ambitious choices.

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When testing the tool with students, 78 per cent said the entry grade tool would be extremely or very useful to them.

Ucas also announced that students in receipt of free school meals will no longer have to pay the ?28.50 university application fee.

Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, said no young person should be forced out of higher education because of the associated costs or because they lack the confidence to apply.

¡°These?new initiatives are the first in what will be a series of steps we take to?make the university application process more fair, simple and accessible,¡± she added.

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Last year the organisation?announced that it was replacing the personal statement with a series of questions, following concerns that it had been contributing to inequalities in higher education access.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, welcomed the decision to end the university application fee for students who have received free school meals.

¡°It may be a small part of the overall cost, but it sends an important signal ¨C we want you, and we want to do all we can to make going to university possible, whatever your financial circumstances,¡± she added.

¡°It would be nothing short of a tragedy if someone chose not to apply to university because they couldn¡¯t afford the Ucas application fee.¡±

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com