Going to university is an exciting time. Each year, around a third of students are offered unconditional places. This is for teenagers about to sit their final exams but proportionally the most go to mature students. Regardless of whatever happens between the offer and the new academic year, the student has a place to study at that university. However, the system is being abused according to one government minister, who has accused some universities of offering “conditional unconditional offers”.

How Can an Offer be Both Conditional and Unconditional?

An unconditional offer is one where the student has first refusal on a university place. The place is not conditional on their A-level results or on completing any other training. This is not the problem.

What is being offered today is an offer that is both conditional and unconditional at the same time. The student can have a place on the condition that the institute is selected as the prospective student’s top choice. If it is a second or reserve choice, that place depends on their A-level results. It is this, not the nature of unconditional offers, that the government wants to reduce.

In April, the Education Secretary wrote to over 20 universities. He criticised the move as “unethical”. In a further step, he instructed the Office for Students to investigate whether the practice of conditional unconditional university place offers was beneficial to students.

Damian Hinds Criticises “Hard Selling”

It’s been a sticking point for some years. In 2012, a cap on the number of students a university could offer places was lifted. This increased the number of unconditional places and created a situation where students were pressured to choose a sure place over another alternative place that may have been more suited because the guaranteed place was more tempting. But there has been fierce backlash from senior figures in universities and their governing and organisational bodies.

Citing the Higher Education and Research Act, a spokesperson for Universities UK said that Hinds was acting unlawfully. They feel that the flashpoint is not so much about the nature of conditional or unconditional offers, nor of such places having minor conditions, but of universities legal right to self-governance. This is backed up by legal professionals now examining the case on behalf of Universities UK. They have defended the move on grounds of reason too. Students who know they have a place from the autumn can begin to make plans early.

However, the increase in unconditional offers is not just a concern to government. Schools and Further Education colleges also feel they are unhelpful for students. In some cases, they are witnessing a slowdown by students who no longer have an incentive to ensure their projected grades remain strong.