13th February 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Nottingham University has said that it will stop giving unconditional offers to prospective university students. Reported on the BBC, this is in light of a recent report criticising the number of unconditional offers given last year, nearly 25% up from 1% in 2013. The university claimed that the use of unconditional offers was “no longer relevant”, unless a student already has their A Level results.
A spokeswoman for the university said that unconditional offers used to be a way of attracting students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that they were used as a way to target admissions in a particular subject area. These offers were a way to show faith in a student, but now some students have as many as 3 unconditional offers and it’s no longer a special thing. This is highlighted by the fact that, of the 3,150 unconditional offers made, only 839 students accepted their offer.
There is also a worry that an unconditional offer takes away a student’s motivation before exams. Nottingham said that they were concerned about the disparity between predicted and achieved grades from students who were guaranteed a university place. The university said that it will make better use of contextual offers, where students from poorer backgrounds will be offered lower entry requirements.
The university’s registrar, Dr Paul Greatrix, said that a top university like Nottingham will always attract great applicants, and does not need unconditional offers to persuade students to apply there. They want everyone to feel as though they win a university place based on merit, and Dr Greatrix believes that assessing students after they have received their A Level results is the best way for a university to practise.