Unconditionally Yours? Offers and University Entrance Exams

June 30, 2018

• University and Higher Education

With the rise in the number of unconditional offers being handed out across the country, there is a danger that this will compromise the efficacy and validity of A-level results as the main indicator of a student’s academic ability. Historically, A-level results have been the most effective way of assessing the suitability of a candidate’s ability to take up a university place and perform well, but perhaps the re-introduction of entrance tests for universities might offer a more detailed and rounded understanding.

The Office for Students, in tandem with UCAS, is looking to investigate the impacts of unconditional offers on the access options for higher education, and the potential employability ramifications, that students might face. In 2013/14, nearly 3,000 students were given unconditional offers, by 2015/16 that figure had risen exponentially to over 50,000, and drop out rates have also risen over this period.

In order to combat this worrying trend, many have called for the introduction of entrance tests for university applications. While Oxbridge have been using these for quite some time, and some courses at UCL, Imperial, and Warwick necessitate them for maths, law, and medicine, there is yet to be a wholesale reintroduction of them for all universities. Indeed, it was only in 1990 that unconditional minimum grade offers were being made at Oxford colleges for applicants who had already taken entrance tests and being interviewed. But public criticism over the unfairness, and the relative advantage that was afforded to those who had been specially prepared for them, meant that they were eventually axed.

The new series of proposed examinations are intended to evaluate a prospective student’s innate ability to study and learn in ways which prevent the unfair rehearsal gambits done by some prestigious, independent schools. Equally, the proliferation of online resources means that educational software can provide a robust, open, and free way for all students to practice their spatial reasoning, thinking assessment, and problem solving skills.

Because it comes a new initiative, despite already being deployed at some institutions, there are some concerns as to whether it would function effectively in all universities. That said, as well as possibly acting as a panacea to the issue of unconditional offers, these entrance exams could also help students with alternative qualifications, such as BTecs, overcome the intransigence of admissions offices with test results providing a way to highlight their qualities.

It is also important to note the difference between ‘selective’ and ‘recruiting’ universities, that is, universities with the privilege of selecting students from a deep pool of very bright applicants (more places than applicants), and universities striving to attract students to study. Selective universities need more stringent criteria to differentiate between similarly well-qualified students – this is where examinations could level the playing field. Recruiting universities, on the other hand, often have unfilled positions for some courses (even after their start date), with allegations that they are accepting under-qualified students.

With reductions and cuts to public funding in education, tuition fees remain the prime source of income for institutions low on research funding: recruiting universities could face a budget crisis if student numbers continue to drop. With this in mind, it stands to reason that more background checks on a student’s academic potential, and ability to finish the course, would provide insurance for institutions.

It seems that the increase in unconditional offers stems from the desire of universities to fill their courses – the student loan that the student takes out means that the institution will receive a public subsidy. There is something almost cynical about this financial incentivising; even if the student fails to finish their course, or fails, they will still have to repay their loan, and the university would be in receipt of the subsidy regardless.

A reintroduction of entrance exams would be a more effective assessment of a student’s applicability for both course and university, one that would provide a more holistic and fair evaluation of their potential for undergraduate-level study. The rise in unconditional offers could undermine the quality and standards of undergraduate education, as well as working to the detriment of A-levels; these qualifications will still follow students around, and remain important for employability after graduation.

Remember that, despite the increase in these types of offer, your child’s A-level performance is of utmost importance. Even with offers made on the basis of predicted grades, do not allow your child to grow complacent with their studies: conditional offers still make up the vast majority of university offers.