Universities warned not to 'inflate' their intakes amid rise in top grades

Universities have been warned not to "sacrifice quality" for "inflated" intakes, as the watchdog says that teachers' predicted grades mean there will be many "well-qualified" students this year.

Admissions tutors must ensure that they do not recruit so many students this summer that the quality of courses suffers, according to the Office for Students (OfS).

The Government announced in January that teachers in England will decide pupils' A-level grades this summer after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said universities are "likely to have many well-qualified students to choose from" following a surge in applications and the introduction of teacher assessment.

But she said talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds should not "lose out" because of this. In a blog on the OfS website, Ms Dandridge said universities and colleges may need to look beyond the grades of disadvantaged students to understand the context in which those grades have been achieved.

Ucas data shows that a record 42.6 per cent of all UK 18-year-olds had applied to university by the main deadline in January, up from 39.5 per cent last year.

Ms Dandridge said: "It is vital that students starting this autumn do not face further disappointment because the quality of their course is reduced by over-recruitment and poor organisation.

"Universities and colleges need to plan wisely to ensure that all students have a high-quality experience. The Office for Students will also use its powers to step in where this is not the case."

She added: "The burgeoning demand for higher education is a vote of confidence from students in the potentially life-changing benefits that - at their best - universities and colleges can provide.

"Universities and colleges must not abuse this trust by sacrificing quality for inflated intakes. Supporting the most disadvantaged students to succeed as they start their journey into higher education should be the number one priority. That is even more the case in the light of the disrupted teaching that many will have received over the last year because of the pandemic."

Ms Dandridge also said that students must be able to make informed decisions without being put under "unfair pressure" from institutions.

"Conditional unconditional" offers - which give students a place regardless of their exam grades on the condition that they make a university their firm first choice - have been banned until September 2021.

The OfS chief said: "We have already seen potential evidence that some universities and colleges may not be complying."

Cases have been flagged to the regulator where offers are being based solely on predicted grades - rather than the grades students go on to achieve.

"We will be investigating these instances further and have powers to impose fines where our rules have been breached," Ms Dandridge added.

Vice-Chancellors said they will be "fair and flexible" with admissions, adding that students' best interests are "at the heart" of their decisions. 

On Tuesday Universities UK (UUK) told the Prime Minister they are "alarmed" by reports that Treasury has not made funding available to support association to Horizon Europe, a research body. 

Prof Julia Buckingham, president of UUK said this would "amount to an effective cut in excess of £1 billion".