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Good Practice

Planning and Managing Admissions

Offer-making

FAQs

If you have any questions concerning good practice in offer-making, please contact us.

Can offers be made with a limited duration e.g.: 'if you haven't accepted the offer by [date] it will be withdrawn'?

All offers should have a set duration, so that the applicant is fully aware of how long there is to consider the offer. UCAS publishes set dates by which applications received up to 30 June will have outstanding offers declined by default (see www.ucas.ac.uk/advisers/importantdates) and no offer made through UCAS should require applicants to reply to offers before these official dates. However, it is appropriate to set institution or even course-level deadline dates for offers made during Clearing and any offers made outside of the UCAS scheme (e.g. part-time; postgraduate; short-courses).

Should non-academic criteria be requested as part of a conditional offer or sit outside of the offer?

Practice varies on this issue. UCAS have recently amended their confirmation letter (AS12) to include the statement, "Subject to your meeting any outstanding non-academic conditions, this letter confirms your place," and advises applicants to check with the institution if they are unsure whether any non-academic requirements remain. This is in recognition of the fact that some requirements at some institutions would not be met by UCAS deadlines and in some cases not until after the applicant has started on the course.
SPA believes that all the conditions for entry should be made absolutely clear to the applicant before they accept any offer, so we would advise that institutions consider carefully how any non-academic requirements are conveyed to applicants to ensure that they are fully aware of what is expected of them. The information must be passed to the applicant in a reliable and clear way, either through the offer itself or through accompanying information. Individual institutions may wish to seek their own legal advice on this issue to make sure that they have no concerns about the contractual nature of the offer.

Can entry criteria be changed mid-cycle?

Concerns have been expressed to SPA by schools and HEIs themselves about late changes in the cycle with regard to entry requirements and offers. While noting that this is not normally good practice we recognise that this is an exceptional year for admissions. The restriction on increases in student numbers in England and Scotland, coupled with the impact of the economic recession and an increase in applications, has led to intense competition for places. This has put pressure not only on applicants and their advisers but also on HEIs who need to manage their numbers. HEI practitioners and managers may wish to consider how to develop and manage clear and up to date internal and external relations/communications to help alleviate any issues which may reflect on the HEIs decision and offer making, procedures, reputation etc that may be raised, now or at confirmation. SPA is working with HEIs, UCAS and advisers to ensure that high standards of transparency and consistency in requirements are maintained and that good practice in offer-making is encouraged.

What flexibility is there within the concept of 'equal consideration' granted to applications received by the UCAS 15 January deadline (or 15 October or 24 March for some courses)?

The convention of equal consideration, which is normally granted to all applications received by UCAS deadlines, is a long-standing one and intrinsic to a fair admissions system. UCAS information to applicants on their website merely states, "Applications received by the above deadlines are guaranteed to be considered by the universities and colleges," which may give grounds in an exceptional year such as this to decide that such consideration need not be equal. However, the UCAS 2010 Admissions guide informs HE staff that, "Applications received by us by this date must all be guaranteed equal consideration" (see section 2 of the guide). Many HEIs have published this commitment to equal consideration on their own websites and in prospectuses, and it is a concept that is assumed by many advisors. SPA would therefore recommend that any HEI considering not adhering to the convention of equal consideration seek legal advice first and that they establish a coherent communications strategy for making such a policy clear and transparent.

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Reviewed and updated: October 2010