UEL’S Clearing Centre received 9,708 calls on Thursday This represents an increase of approximately 356 calls in comparison to the first day of clearing in 2010. In the first two hours alone, the call operators took in the region of 1,800 calls.

And the facility was again open for business on Friday taking calls from prospective students which took the total b eyound 10,000.

Courses are still available, but places are limited. The courses available include early childhood studies and youth and community, which offer work placement opportunities - all the more important, given the current employment woes in the UK.

There is also limited availability on other courses including architecture, computing and engineering.

* UEL has just recorded its highest ever student satisfaction rating - 81 per cent, an increase of five points over last year’s National Student Survey.

There was also a 97 Aper cent satisfaction rating in teacher training.

The new figures took the university up 21 places in the table of UK universities Speaking in Graham Curtis, UEL Pro Vice-Chancellor for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience, welcomed the results and said “We are delighted that all the hard work of our staff and students has paid off with these results. We are particularly pleased that our rating is underpinned by large increases in our scores for teaching, feedback and academic support.

“This academic core is essential to any university. We are also very proud of our score for personal development, which is significantly above the national average.”

Maria Kyriacou, UEL Student Union President, said: “I was happy to learn that the commitment of the Students’ Union and university has brought about a welcomed shift in our students’ experience.”

A total of 1,872 UEL final-year undergraduates took part in this year’s NSS.