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Universities in England told not to drop teaching standards by taking on too many students in 2021

Nicola Dandridge, head of education watchdog, said students should not face more disappointment because the quality of courses is diminished by overrecruitment

Universities have been warned against compromising teaching quality by “inflating” the number of places they award to applicants this year. 

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students (OfS) watchdog, said students should “not face further disappointment because the quality of their course is reduced by overrecruitment and poor organisation”. 

It could be tricky for universities to manage their numbers this year, because the cancellation of exams and use of teacher-assessed grades is likely to result in students getting better grades than in a normal year

Financial pressures on universities caused by Covid-19 may also give institutions an incentive to max out their recruitment – although this could hit less popular universities. 

The OfS said it was already aware of some universities handing out controversial unconditional offers to students. 

Last year, the watchdog banned universities in England from making ‘strings attached’ unconditional offers – where the offer only becomes unconditional if a student accepts it as their firm choice. But it said it had seen evidence that some institutions “may not be complying”.  

“Cases have been drawn to our attention where large numbers of unconditional offers are being made or where offers are based solely on predicted grades – rather than the grades students go on to achieve,” Ms Dandridge wrote in a blog. 

With a record proportion of UK 18-year-olds applying to university this year – and teacher assessed grades likely to push up results – Ms Dandridge also said there was a risk that students from poorer families could be squeezed out at some institutions.  

“With the rise in applicant numbers and plans for teacher-assessed grades, universities and colleges are likely to have many well-qualified students to choose from. We can’t have a situation where talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds lose out as a result,” she said. 

She said that universities would be expected to “do their part to admit and support the most disadvantaged students”, including by “looking beyond grades to identify potential by understanding the context in which those grades have been achieved”. 

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Ms Dandridge said the OfS would investigate instances where universities had been handing out unconditional offers and could fine institutions which had breached the rules. She also said the watchdog would “step in” if universities were taking on more students than they could properly teach. 

“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,” she said. “Universities and colleges must not abuse this trust by sacrificing quality for inflated intakes.” 

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