More than a third of UK university applicants are still without a place on a degree course
The university admissions service, Ucas, says up to 187,000 candidates are chasing a falling number of unfilled places.
This means 46,358 more people than last year were in the same position.
With record results and a cap on university places, competition is said to be very tough this year.
Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook warned that this year was likely to be the most difficult year for admissions for a decade. A record 675,465 students have applied to university this year.
A* effect
Ms Curnock Cook predicted that at least 150,000 of these candidates would miss out.
Although there are still a good spread of courses with places available through clearing, it is expected there will be significantly fewer than the 47,600 who found places through the system last year.
There are no figures available for the exact number of course places on offer.
