UK universities ‘bribe’ prospective students with up to £1,200

More than a quarter of UK universities are attempting to ‘bribe’ A-leve pupils with laptops and discounts and cash offers if the chose them as a ‘firm’ choice on UCAS forms, it has been revealed.

In a desperate scramble to fill places in a competitive market, universities are trying to tempt students with ‘incentives’, an investigation by the i has found.

Freedom of information (FOI) requests sent to 133 universities showed as many as a 35 universities offered the incentives last year or will this year, the paper reports.

They include the University of Portsmouth, Hants, who offer a £1,000 scholarships for those who meet their grades as part of their unconditional offers.

The university, which paid out to 376 students last year, has previously defended the scheme, which it says provides a ‘carrot’ to students not to ‘sit back’ in their A-levels. 

Meanwhile, the University of Northampton gives every student a free laptop.

This can be exchanged for a £500 discount on halls of residence rent or a £500 credit which can be spent on campus.   

The University of Hull gives students £1,200 for achieving grades of B,B and C in their A-levels, while the University of Derby gives £1,000 to students who achieve three B grades after making them a firm choice.

Queen’s University Belfast offers a £500 tuition fees discount plus other benefits including free flights and cinema tickets, while the University of Stirling provides £1,000 to all students the UK who meet the terms of their offer.

The incentive schemes have been criticised by some, including Tom Richmond, director of the EDSK think-tank and an adviser to Michael Gove when he was Education Secretary, who described some of the offers as a ‘shameless bribe’.

He told the I: ‘If universities want to attract more applicants, they should focus on improving the quality and value of their courses.

‘Regrettably, some of them are instead choosing to shamelessly bribe students with these ‘incentives’ even when applicants have not demonstrated any special talent or aptitude.’

The figures come after thousands of extra students are expected to get a place at university this year in what’s being predicted as the biggest ever year of clearing, as institutions place ‘quantity over quality to earn some bucks’.

With a fall in overseas students predicted due to the coronavirus, places for British students have been increased.

According to The Times, UCAS is predicting 80,000 students could find a place during the clearing scheme – which runs in the two weeks after A-Levels results day in August. 

Last year 73,000 students found a course during the same period.

Institutions have a deal with the government allowing them to take in five per cent more UK students than their targets.  

It comes as school leavers have applied in record numbers to start university this autumn despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Admissions service Ucas says a record 40.5 per cent of all UK 18-year-olds have applied, despite fears over the impact of social distancing on college life.

By June 30, 281,980 school leavers were looking for places, a small rise from 275,520 last year despite a reduction in the population aged 18.

There had been concern that young people would be put off higher education this year after institutions moved towards a mix of online and face-to-face classes.

There were also concerns after A-Level exams were cancelled this year due to the pandemic, and results relying on school averages and teachers’ own assessment of their pupils, results this year are set to be slightly different.

Before clearing begins on August 13, universities have been urged to show some flexibility with their entry requirements.  

It also comes as A-level pupils whose marks are downgraded by computer face missing out on university places while exam boards sift through a flood of appeals, experts warned last night.

This year’s exams were cancelled because of coronavirus so marks will be based on teachers’ estimates of what entrants would have achieved.

But exam boards are expected to lower nearly 40 per cent of grades using a computerised marking scheme to ensure results are not significantly higher than previous years.

This means tens of thousands of pupils will not achieve the marks they had hoped for when they get their A-level grades on Thursday.

Those who appeal must be awarded a higher grade by September 7 to attend the university they have chosen.

But exam boards, which are in charge of appeals, have refused to commit to this timeframe.

Instead, they have given themselves 42 days to resolve complaints – meaning the university term will have started before most cases are dealt with.

Many pupils, teachers and parents in England are nervous about this year’s results after last week’s debacle over the Scottish Higher exams.

In Scotland, 124,000 grades awarded by teachers were lowered, with the poorest entrants getting their marks downgraded at more than double the rate of the richest.

Pupils in England who are unhappy with their grades must rely on their schools to mount appeals for them, based on stringent criteria, potentially adding to the delays. Last night none of the ‘big three’ exams boards – AQA, OCR and Pearson Edexcel – provided assurances that it would be able to meet the September 7 deadline set by university admissions body Ucas.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the exam boards, said its members were ‘committed to completing appeals as quickly as possible’.

But it admitted grade appeals may take six weeks or longer. This means a complaint lodged on A-levels results day – and most will come later than this – does not have to be dealt with until September 24.