Universities urged to stop using ‘unethical’ tactics to pressure students into accepting places

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The use of “conditional unconditional offers”, where a university tells students they are guaranteed a place but only if they make it their first choice, is harming students’ attainment, ministers warn. Universities that make conditional unconditional offers could be fined or deregistered for the “unacceptable” practice, and the government has not ruled out banning these offers altogether. Paul Cottrell, acting general secretary for the University College Union, said: “Unconditional offers put too much pressure on young people to make a snap decision about their future and are symptomatic of a broken admissions system.” Meanwhile, Labour MP Gordon Marsden, shadow higher education minister, claimed the rise of unconditional offers was a direct result of a “marketised approach” to higher education, which he said has “piled pressure” on institutions to recruit students. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said: “It is not in students’ interests to push them into decisions that may not be right for them, and admissions practices are clearly not working if they are having a negative impact on students’ choices or outcomes.” A Universities UK spokesperson said: “As with all offers to study at university, universities must be able to explain why and how they award unconditional offers with conditions attached.