To think a university can't amend my offer after I've accepted it?

[cantheydothiss]

I recently applied to a university course directly through Clearing as I already have all of my exam results. I received an email from the university with an offer, and was told if I wanted to accept the offer that I needed to add it to my UCAS account by a particular date - which I did. I was sent all the details of the offer including the T&Cs. There is no mention of any conditions of the offer.

I accepted the offer by adding it to my UCAS account as described in the email.

Today I received an email from the university that the course I have applied for requires an interview, and so I need to have an interview and if successful they will then confirm my place.

Is this something the university can do? I'm happy to have an interview but would have preferred to know that at the outset as I wouldn't have withdrawn job applications and started making plans for going to university this September if it wasn't 100% confirmed.

That sounds a bit unfair. On the other hand my own university interviews were very much formalities. Unless you are applying for medicine or Oxbridge ir similar I don’t think you need worry

Is this something the university can do? I'm happy to have an interview but would have preferred to know that at the outset as I wouldn't have withdrawn job applications and started making plans for going to university this September if it wasn't 100% confirmed.

Yes, of course it is. They want to make sure that the course will be a good fit for you, and you for the course. We interview - see it as a chance to ask questions, and see what it's like at the university and the specific course.

Yanbu. They cannot legally do this without it being breach of contract.

Yes, of course it is. They want to make sure that the course will be a good fit for you, and you for the course. We interview - see it as a chance to ask questions, and see what it's like at the university and the specific course.

All fine as long as you tell the applicant that BEFORE you make them an offer or even if you write that the offer is subject to a successful interview NOT drop it in after the offer is made and accepted.

I'm not sure about how it works with clearing but until someone more knowledgable comes along...

If you apply the usual way, you view your offers in UCAS tracking and there is a button for each offer to reply. Each offer says whether it is unconditional or conditional (and what the conditions are). You select one as your firm, one as your insurance, then the others are deleted. Once you have firmed, the university can't withdraw the offer unless you don't meet the conditions of the offer. The same applies to the insurance university, they can't withdraw their offer if you don't meet the conditions of your firm choice but meet the conditions of your insurance choice.

Presumably, clearing works in a similar way. Have you looked at UCAS tracking to see what it says? Is the offer showing as accepted? I think you need to contact UCAS for advice.

Clearing is different in that you can only apply for one place at a time so what most do is contact the university first, give them your clearing number and get an offer (or not) from them before you add them to your UCAS form. You can only add one institution.

Yes, with Clearing it's slightly different as you apply to the university directly (usually a form on their website), and then you receive an offer and then you add it onto your UCAS account as you can only apply to one course in Clearing. I applied through the university's website and received an email congratulating me on receiving an offer, and it detailed all the T&Cs of the offer. There was no mention of an interview or any conditions for the offer.

Then today I received an email from Admissions saying thank you for applying, as part of the decision making process I will need to have an interview. I think they may have made a mistake in emailing out an offer before an interview.

I'm emailed them back asking them to clarify, but I'm trying to tread the line between being cooperative and polite, but also being unhappy that something I thought was 100% confirmed has now been backtracked.

But don't you have to add your clearing choice to UCAS and then they confirm it? If they've confirmed it on UCAS, then they can't withdraw. I think if it hasn't been confirmed on UCAS, then it isn't 100% confirmed.

It does sound very confusing though.

What subject have you applied for? There are some, such as social work and nursing, where it's part of the regulations that you can't be offered a place without passing an interview. They're much more rigorous than a lot of university interviews. If it's something like this then they definitely shouldn't have made you an unconditional offer and you'd certainly have grounds for a complaint.

@Diospyros They haven't confirmed it on UCAS, but the email said that by adding it as an option on UCAS I will have accepted the offer and entered into a contract with the university?

@Cantuserealname It's a course similar to social work, although it's not in the regulations for this particular course that you need an interview (I know some universities don't interview applicants for it, and others do). I'm not sure if I can push back and try and get them to honour the written offer or whether they could just withdraw it? I'm so disappointed

What does their web site say? If it doesn't mention an interview then they're misrepresenting their entry requirements and arguably have put you at a disadvantage. Had you known in advance you could have chosen to apply somewhere that didn't interview and wouldn't now be locked into this choice.
If you want to complain there's useful advice on the Office for Students web site.
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/

In contractual terms, offer and acceptance is normally a complete contract. However, in reality I think you should attend the interview and not be difficult about it. It sounds like you have the place in the bag and this is just a formality. Being 'difficult' even when you are right sometimes does more harm than good.

Surely it says somewhere in the course description whether there's an interview or not? If it's there and you didn't see it, they're surely doing what they do with all applicants, whether clearing or not.

Some healthcare and teaching courses require an interview, because of the professional registration component. I work in HE, but not in Admissions, and understand Clearing is different, because you both have to 'accept' the part of the process, to put you into UCAS properly. You have to only be considering one programme of study through Clearing, so this could be part of it.
If an interview is required, you're going to have your offer withdrawn, so I'd say you need to attend.
Good luck.

Hopefully it's just a formality OP x

I’m a university lecturer. This isn’t true. I’ve rejected people after interviews many times.

If they’re in clearing then hopefully they have plenty of spaces and it is a formality. I’m a university lecturer and some of our courses have had a 35% reduction in applications this year.

OP has a similar thread on the HE board.

As a former admissions tutor, my understanding of the situation from her explanation there is as follows.

The uni told her via email that they would accept her, and she needed to select them on UCAS to initiate the process. OP selected them and thought that at this point the offer was binding. Technically it is not. An offer must be posted on UCAS and accepted there - at that point a legally binding contract is created.

After OP selected the uni on UCAS, instead of posting an offer the uni emailed her to tell her of the requirement to interview. Regardless of how reasonable the interview may otherwise be, this ‘bait and switch’ is simply wrong. I hope that OP or someone else experiencing it - actually many people experiencing it - will complain to the Office for Students. However I agree that for those wishing to enrol in this programme a complaint may be unwise (if they end up doing so).

Agree they've done you over.

Not sure what you can do about it now though, without jeopardising your application.

Thank you for your reply, it was really helpful.

The email was very official, written out like a letter on university headed paper and stated 'If you wish to accept this offer, please log into your UCAS account and enter the following information...' It then ended with 'we look forward to welcoming you to [university] in September'. I had a PDF attachment with all the terms and conditions of the offer. It was as official as an email can be lol.

In contrast I have been emailing another university who made it clear that provisionally my grades met their entry requirements, but they would make a full assessment after I applied formally on UCAS.

So two very different approaches.

I have my interview tomorrow so fingers crossed I will get an offer after it.

After OP selected the uni on UCAS, instead of posting an offer the uni emailed her to tell her of the requirement to interview. Regardless of how reasonable the interview may otherwise be, this ‘bait and switch’ is simply wrong.

It depends how much of an assessment interview it is, rather than just saying hi, discussion etc. OP could've emailed them or something and said she thought she'd already been offered a place (she needn't have got aggro on the phone about it, just a question.)

Best wishes OP, I'm sure it'll be fine.

Hi, OP -

Thanks for your reply. The email from the other university is what my School does. The more you post, the more I dislike the approach of the first School.

That doesn’t mean everything else about the School is sleazy. I hope your interview goes well and you get an offer very soon. OTOH if you don’t get an offer very soon I hope you will start looking for other options. No need to withdraw from this one until you wish to be considered in Clearing by another. Very best wishes