Office for Students Bans ‘Conditional Unconditional’ University Offers in UK

The Office for Students (OfS) has temporarily banned ‘conditional unconditional’ offers in English universities, due to concerns that the offer pressures students into accepting places at universities. 

Any universities making these offers could receive a fine of up to £500,000 per breach.

Conditional unconditional offers give students a place at the university, which is not dependent on their grades, with the caveat that students must put the university as their firm choice.

The ban on conditional unconditional offers will be in place until September 2021, so will cover admissions offers for the next two academic years.

Approximately 30,000 conditional unconditional offers are thought to have been made to students this year in March, before the ban was announced. Students shouldn’t worry, however, as these offers will still stand.

Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of the OfS said: “Students can also be reassured that they should not expect to have any offers that they have already received withdrawn”.

She added: “Where there are good reasons for [students] to receive an unconditional or contextual offer in the future, there is no reason that this cannot go ahead.”

There has been a sharp rise in conditional unconditional offers in recent years. UCAS reported in December 2019 that over a quarter of 18-year-old applicants in the UK have received a conditional unconditional offer, despite fewer students accepting the offer.