University admissions - time for change

In a letter to The Times, Magnus Basharaat has supported Labour’s call for an end to the use of predicted grades in university admissions. 

Government figures show that predictions are typically too optimistic which, when combined with the growth of unconditional offers, makes the process disturbingly random. Although the current arrangement inadvertently benefit disadvantaged applicants as they are more likely to be over-predicted, Magnus argues that reform to how applications from such students are assessed would deliver better results for the right reasons. 

More generally, Magnus argues that with an end to unconditional offers, and the mad scramble of clearing dispensed with, applicants “would be better informed to apply for the right courses – good, surely, for universities as well as students, and worth the effort of reorganisation”.

Read Magnus' letter in The Times here (subscription may be required).