UCU response to Sutton Trust report’s call for overhaul of university admissions

Students should apply to university after they have received their results, says a report from the Sutton Trust released today (Tuesday). The report says pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are losing out in the current system of using predicted grades.

The University and College Union (UCU) welcomed the report and said it was time for a complete overhaul of the system.

The report cites evidence that says although the majority of grades are over-predicted, high attaining disadvantaged students are more likely to have their grades under-predicted than their richer counterparts. It says this could result in them applying to universities which are less selective than their credentials would permit.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: ‘This report highlights why the current system of students applying based on predictive grades is not fair. It is in everyone’s interests to give all students the very best chance of fulfilling their potential and one huge step in the right direction would be to allow them to apply to university after they receive their results.’