derby. >> it's a hive of activity here at the university of derby . it's at the university of derby.ve been eating their lunch their desks because lunch at their desks because they've all they've been taking calls all morning clearing morning since 8:00 when clearing hot open , as soon as those hot lines open, as soon as those a—level students , former a—level a—level students, former a—level students, university applicants, got their results . and now those got their results. and now those results might have been really good. and they've done better than expected . they'd than expected. so they'd be calling hotline try and get calling a hotline to try and get into a university maybe is into a university that maybe is more preferable or maybe it's not as high as they not quite as high as they thought it was going to be, and they're considering their opfions they're considering their options down the country options up and down the country now. mcclay, you're in now. keith mcclay, you're in charge learning charge of teaching and learning here the university of derby. here at the univer

so they'll be calling universities just like the university derby, like the university of derby, whereor keith mcclay? >> well, good and many >> well, good morning. and many thanks me will thanks for having me on, will well, the atmosphere, as you can see, it's our clearing room see, it's our clearing hot room under of under the real hubbub of activity. doing two things activity. we're doing two things here. taking calls from here. we are taking calls from those students been those students who have been successful results, and successful in their results, and now wanting to phone up now they are wanting to phone up just to ask some questions. but also secondly, we are taking inquiries from those students who either have not quite met their expectations of their grades or indeed have grades or indeed they have outperformed expectations outperformed their expectations and therefore they are wanting just pause , reflect and see just to pause, reflect and see if is alternative if there is an alternative university degree program or tentative university that they can join in september. >>

let's cross over to our reporter , will hollis, who's at reporter, will hollis, who's at the university of derbythe clearing team here at the university of derby have already taken hundreds of calls from applicants, students that got their a—level results this morning, some of them maybe didn't do quite so well as they hoped others might have done even better. so they're getting in touch with universities like this one here. so when they make that call to the clearing hotline, which hopefully is a way that they can get a place on a certain course, they'll come through to people like vish, you're manning the phones and you're manning the phones and you're also on the computers looking at different grades and seeing if people's ucas points match up. what we've got this yearis match up. what we've got this year is a return to the grading system pre—pandemic, so there's no longer that uplift . how does no longer that uplift. how does that actually affect job that actually affect the job that actually affect the job that here on the that you're doing here on the clearing hotline? >> seeing >> we're a

university sector does. the threat of a dwindling flow of foreign students, like in this derby university promo video, is heighteningniversities will try to survive on whatever money they've got, and so if they get given less money for teaching and learning, the experience for students will be less good. in the 1980s and 1990s, the number of students doubled, but the amount of money spent on our education didn't go up at all. lectures got bigger and bigger and bigger. the staff—student ratio got worse and worse and worse and the university estates got tattier and tattier and tattier, and eventually, tony blair took the bold decision to bring in tuition fees to try and reverse all of that. so what are the possible solutions? well, more money is the usual argument. but from where? there's no appetite for more public subsidy from the uk government — and the same goes for the devolved administrations. should students pay more through higherfees? students are unsurprisingly opposed. so, infact, are university lecturers. what about welcoming more lucrative foreign students? there's not much government appetite for that ei