She said universities had already made 100,000 more offers than last year – around 1.3 million – which indicates they will accept more students. Universities said they only accept students they believe can succeed and that there is no slipping of education standards. The other universities accepting lower grades are: Durham University, Cardiff University, Queen Mary University of London, Queen’s University Belfast and the Universities of Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Sheffield, Birmingham and Nottingham. A Universities UK spokesperson said admissions decisions take into account many aspects of a student’s application, not just grades, and institutions will only accept students they believe can succeed. A source at one of the institutions said historical grades do not represent current entry requirements and that they accept lower grades from students from under-represented backgrounds.