But most of us went through the system in the 80s/90s/00s complete with stats on how universities had x applications for every place and sixth form tutors who pushed the personal statement and having something to fill it with.
Well, for a start off for most of the 1980s there weren't any personal statements. In passing, does anyone know when they arrived? I suspect with the merger of UCCA and PCAS in the early 1990s, but I don't know. I have a copy of my UCCA form so I can tell you precisely what the form contained then.
If you think about it, the way the application process works means that the system is in balance with five applications per place, because there are five slots on the form. There are vast numbers of courses at Oxbridge which have nothing like five applicants per place, because fewer people make speculative applications there (most applicants are qualified). There are more than five qualified applicants per place for some RG courses but, as someone has said upthread, sadly a lot of applicants are not remotely qualified, so the number of courses which need to do more than make offers to everyone that has the right predicted grades is smaller than you think. And as of the last few years, the consequences of over-recruiting have been softened, so there really is no reason to not make offers to qualified applicants. There are departments so over-subscribed that they need to make finer judgements, but they are very rare (and, returning to the root of this debate, I'd be astounded if CS outside the obvious four places is amongst them).
D of E is not worth that much apparently, some universities disregard it.
Are there any universities which don't disregard it? As Bertrand says, super-curriculars might be relevant (especially if you've missed your offer by a grade and someone's deciding on Wednesday morning before results Thursday whether to let you in) but the rest? When would it be considered?