Reviewing the admissions system

Status of the consultation

This consultation is currently paused and will relaunch no earlier than Autumn 2021-22.

The review has been delayed due to the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2020-21 and potentially the 2021-22 admissions cycles. Our new time-limited condition Z3 to maintain integrity and stability in admissions remains in place until 30 September 2021, unless we choose to consult on removing the condition earlier.

We are committed to supporting a fair, reliable, and inclusive admissions system and will continue to ensure that students are well supported through the admissions cycle, taking proportionate action where needed. We are pausing our review to avoid placing additional regulatory burden on higher education providers who will be focusing on making admissions in 2021 as fair as possible, in light of any potential further disruption over the course of this cycle.

We are working closely with the sector, the government and UCAS on this, including through the ministerial task force, with the aim of making sure that next year’s cycle is fair and gives all students the right to choose the right course for them. We will also work with stakeholders and students across the sector before taking a decision on when and how to relaunch the review.

Any responses to the review made before it was paused will be kept and reviewed when the consultation reopens, subject to any changes we make to the review.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Hilary Jones or Edward Davison. For press enquires please email [email protected]

The Office for Students (OfS) is reviewing the admissions system in English higher education and we want to hear from you.

We want to understand how well the current admissions system is working in the interests of students.

This includes anyone applying for any type of higher education course at a university, college or other higher education provider. In these pages, we use ‘universities and colleges’ to refer to any type of provider.

As part of our review we are running a consultation on the current admissions system as well as on some options for reform.

About the consultation

We want to hear from anyone with an interest in English higher education admissions, including:

students (past, present and future), whether from the UK, EU or internationally
parents and carers
professional staff, academic staff and leaders at higher education providers
schools and further education colleges
employers
sector bodies
third sector organisations.

These pages provide a short guide to the issues and future options covered in the consultation.

What else will the review include?

In addition to the consultation, our review of admissions will include:

roundtable events that will gather particular groups to explore specific issues, including future options
direct engagement with students, teachers and advisers, and sector organisations.

The OfS may also create and publish additional evidence, as well as drawing on evidence from other sources such as the Universities UK review on fair admissions.

Why are we reviewing admissions?

There have been many reviews of the UK higher education admissions system, including a 2004 review chaired by Professor Stephen Schwartz which recommended some changes and developed a set of principles for fair admissions.

Since 2004, the UK higher education landscape has changed significantly. For example:

With more places available and fewer students, universities and colleges are competing for applicants both from the UK and internationally.
Tuition fees have increased and students now make a significant financial investment in their higher education.
Applicants and the universities, colleges and courses to which they apply have become more diverse.
Universities and colleges registered with the OfS must now meet ambitious targets to encourage and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Some admissions practices have emerged such as ‘conditional unconditional offers’ or the offering of incentives, which can influence student choices in ways that may not be in their longer-term interests.

What's in scope?

Through our review, we want to assess and evaluate a wide range of perspectives.

We hope to learn more about admissions practices in all types of higher education provider, for all types of higher education course, undergraduate and postgraduate. This includes courses where more than one university, college or other organisation is involved in the admissions process.

Our review covers all applicants; young and mature, international applicants and those from the UK or EU.

Issues that are out of scope of this review:

The quality and availability of advice and guidance.
How effective assessment methods are as predictors of future success.
Student contracts and consumer protection.
The structure of partnership arrangements, where universities or colleges work together to deliver higher education.

Full details of what is in and out of scope are set out in the consultation document.

What next?

When we have completed our review, we will publish our findings along with supporting evidence and our views about any need for changes.

We will consult on any proposed changes, and make sure we work in partnership with the higher education sector.

Published 27 February 2020
Last updated 25 September 2020 + show all updates

25 September 2020: Statement added about the status of the consultation.
02 March 2020: Video added to the page

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Reviewing the admissions system

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