Unconditional offers rise despite warnings they hinder students

UNCONDITIONAL offers have hit a record high as universities are accused of harming students’ prospects in their rush to put “bums on seats”.

Last year, 37.7 per cent of all 18-yearolds from England, Northern Ireland and Wales received at least one unconditional offer, according to Ucas, the university admissions service.

Fierce competition between universities to attract students saw the number of school leavers who received unconditional offers surge from 16,300 in 2014 to 97,125 this year.

Ministers have previously accused universities of acting in a “completely irresponsible” manner by handing out so many unconditional offers.

Universities which hand out the most of these offers have been warned that they are “undermining the credibility of higher education” and were urged to rein in the practice.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “infuriating” that universities have “apparently responded to calls to end the use of certain types of unconditional offers by making more of them”.

He called for an end to “conditional unconditional” offers, where they tell students their offer will be unconditional, but only if they accept it as their first choice university.

“This practice has more to do with the frenetic scramble to put ‘bums on seats’ than the best interests of students,” Mr Barton said. “It results in many young people taking their foot off the pedal in their A-levels, doing less well than they should, and potentially damaging their future employment prospects. It also encourages them to choose university courses which may not be their best option.”

Earlier this year, the Office for Students said that institutions applying “psychological pressure” or “creating an impression of urgency” could be a breach of consumer protection law. The regulator is currently reviewing the admissions system.

Ucas analysis found that students who have an unconditional offer are, on average, 11.5 percentage points more likely to miss their predicted grades by three or more grades than if they had received a conditional offer.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said there were “clear benefits” to universities being able to use “a variety of offer-making practices” but these must be used “appropriately and proportionately”.