Economics offers: take a gap year because so competitive?

[CaliforniaDrumming]

I am unfamiliar with the British uni system, so excuse any stupid questions. DS applied for Economics at Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Notts. He has perfect grades at GCSE , predicted AAAA at A level, plus predicted A in Further Maths. Two rejections from Cambridge ( expected) and LSE. One offer from Notts which he is not keen on. He's very despondent because he thinks he may not make it into Warwick or UCL. I am not sure his PS was great because he missed out on work experience thanks to Covid.

I am wondering if it is extra competitive this year because of deferred entries due to Covid, and whether it will help him to take a gap year and reapply with achieved grades and more work experience. Also grade inflation due to Covid. I know it's premature as he has not yet been rejected by Warwick or UCL but would like to have a plan in the bag to reassure him. He has worked like a dog.

I might add that he is an international student.

International students can now live and work in the UK for up to 2 years after graduating. However, it won’t be necessarily easier for international to secure graduate roles in the coming years.

Record numbers of students in the UK have accepted university places this year. The big challenge for international students will be the number of graduate positions available.

Brexit and remote working have impacted the number of graduate roles available. Roles previously based in London have moved elsewhere and not all of these roles have remained in the UK.

Yes, the number of EU students is down but it only accounted for just over 5% of the intake in UK universities in 2018. It is higher in universities such as Oxford where the percentage was around 7.2%.

Also, EU graduates can still take a graduate role in the UK quite easily. All they require is a job offer with a salary of at least £25,600 a year.

I am glad he has got an offer from Warwick for economics. He will do very well there if he gets (gets the grades). My son has a friend who did economics and now works at some kind of investment fund doing quant type work I think - this is all second hand but his very good degree which from memory was economics from Warwick (or possibly LSE?) helped with getting his dream job when he graduated.