OfS investigates ‘conditional unconditional’ offer ban ‘breaches’

Some English universities may be breaching a ban on the use of “conditional unconditional” offers, according to the sector regulator, which is launching an investigation.

Making offers that only become unconditional once an applicant accepts them as their firm choice was prohibited by the Office for Students last year for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic amid fears that they put unfair pressure on would-be undergraduates to accept offers that are not in their best interests.

But Nicola Dandridge, the regulator’s chief executive, says that the OfS has “already seen potential evidence that some universities and colleges may not be complying”.

“Cases have been drawn to our attention where large numbers of unconditional offers are being made or where offers are based solely on predicted grades – rather than the grades students go on to achieve,” Ms Dandridge writes in a blog published on the OfS website on 17 March.

“We will be investigating these instances further and have powers to impose fines where our rules have been breached.”

The ban on conditional unconditional offers, which runs until September 2021, is designed to stop universities destabilising the English higher education sector by trying to lure applicants away from other providers.

A record 42 per cent of 18-year-olds in the UK have already applied for a university place this year, a 12 per cent increase year-on-year, perhaps reflecting the challenges that the pandemic is likely to pose for school-leavers who otherwise would have gone straight into the workforce.

Ms Dandridge writes that it is “vital that students starting this autumn do not face further disappointment because the quality of their course is reduced by over-recruitment and poor organisation”.

She adds that the use of teacher-assessed grades means that universities “are likely to have many well-qualified students to choose from” and that “we can’t have a situation where talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds lose out as a result”, emphasising the need for institutions to look at applicants’ socio-economic backgrounds as well as their attainment.

And she highlights the need for universities to be open with applicants about how much time they can expect in face-to-face lectures and tutorials, and how much learning will be online.

“The burgeoning demand for higher education is a vote of confidence from students in the potentially life-changing benefits that – at their best – universities and colleges can provide. Universities and colleges must not abuse this trust by sacrificing quality for inflated intakes,” Ms Dandridge concludes.

“Supporting the most disadvantaged students to succeed as they start their journey into higher education should be the number one priority. That is even more the case in light of the disrupted teaching that many will have received over the last year because of the pandemic.”

A Universities UK spokeswoman said that admissions teams were “continuing to pull out all the stops to make sure that this year’s applicants get the opportunity to fulfil their potential at university”.

“Universities will continue to be fair and flexible in their decision-making, acknowledging the disruption students have faced and recognising the disadvantage that different groups of students have experienced,” she said.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com