Unconditional offer for putting a Uni down as firm choice

[ToadMum]

A colleague’s DD had this last year. (Not sure if this is the complete story however) Her second choice offered her an unconditional offer if she accepted them as her first choice.

She didn’t as she wanted elsewhere. Second choice offer remained conditional on grades

However she didn’t quite get the grades at her first choice (but that uni did offer her a place on a completely unlrelated course instead). Once she turned down that her second choice uni offer them became unconditional aparently and they accepted her (I’m not sure if that’s because she had the grades or not though and didn’t want to pry too much at the time).

That's just the normal Firm / Insurance scenario - the idea being that you pick as your Insurance a university with lower grade requirememts (or a strong track record of accepting candidates with a dropped grade or two). Unless you also fail to meet the (even possibly lowered) conditions of the insurance choice, that is where you will be going if you don't meet the conditions of your firm.

[Catney]

There was an article on the BBC this morning about unconditional offers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-46033799

[tabasco]

Been to Birmingham University recently and noted that they do offered one off scholarships of £1000 to £1500 for student who get in with A*A*A*. For example The Department of Mathematics might offer an unconditional offer if the student is predicted A*A*A*.
I am not surprised of their action at all when they are competing for the best candidates who will also apply to Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and Warwick etc.
Normally most candidates will at least select a university with a slightly low entrance requirement as insurance for their fifth or fourth choice on the UCAS form even though they are predicted good ‘A’ level grades. It is also common sense that there is no point to apply to all five universities require the same ‘A’ level grade.
I personally don’t think that to offer an unconditional offer is a bad thing as long as the university has done a proper assessment of the candidate through previous academic performance (GCSE, AS etc), teacher reference, personal statement, predicted grade, entrance test (if there is one) and interview (if there is one).

[WOTMum]

OP here again. Amber and 2childmum got the uni - it was Lancaster! Flattering for DD but as I said originally, it feels cynical and wrong, especially when you know it is at the bottom of her list of 5. In the (beautiful/personalised!) letter, she was also offered the potential of scholarships as well as the place and preferential treatment on the accommodation. Anyway funnily enough, we are not rushing to the applicants' day lined up to soften us up further, not least because it clashes with one at one of DD's top choices, Manchester - from which she has received a conditional offer at published grades, so nicely above board. So not even considering it but blown away by the fact that an unconditional offer isn't really that at all, it is conditional on you ruling out all other options. And DD was wise to it pretty much straight away - so there is hope.

[Blitz]

How do scholarships work? If a university offers a £1000 scholarship for achieving say A*AA, is that £1000 off fees or a cheque direct to the student for £1000?

You can see I have not been to an open day! Or discovered university scholarships.

[Amber]

How do scholarships work? If a university offers a £1000 scholarship for achieving say A*AA, is that £1000 off fees or a cheque direct to the student for £1000?

You can see I have not been to an open day! Or discovered university scholarships.

My 2 were promised £2000 (I think) cash as a one-off payment. As neither took the place I am not sure exactly how the money would have changed hands.

[2outof3]

UEA offered a £1000 scholarship for AAA. The money was paid directly to the student in January of 1st year (and very grateful she was for it too!)

Many universities offer scholarships now - some are subject specific, others just for overall grades. It's a nice incentive if you are planning on firming that university anyway.

[kenyancowgirl]

I noticed in the press today that 3 Universities are on the verge of bankruptcy - not named but two on the South coast (I think it said) and one in the north west....maybe the £1000 "incentives" cough bribes (I refuse to call them scholarships!) are adding up!

[stroudydad]

I noticed in the press today that 3 Universities are on the verge of bankruptcy - not named but two on the South coast (I think it said) and one in the north west....maybe the £1000 "incentives" cough bribes (I refuse to call them scholarships!) are adding up!

This is worrying for all.. ds actually has offers from 2 south coast unis...

[mike1880]

It wouldn't be surprising if any go under, it's been predicted since the current funding regime was introduced in 2010. The remaining safety net was whipped from under them early this year with the demise of HEFCE. It's a fair bet that the three are in areas that are already struggling economically; they're probably one of the few providers of decent quality employment in the area and provide places to students who can't readily move to another university. But hey, the market. Obviously higher education should be a market driven enterprise, that's why absolutely everyone else in the world does it that way.