Improving the Higher Education Applications Process Consultation

September 2005

The DfES consultation Improving the Higher Education Applications Process was launched on the 9th of September 2005 and proposes a number of changes to enhance the current system of applications to higher education. It suggests that those changes, if supported, could be introduced by the academic year 2008/09.

Key areas that student unions may be interested in include:

• Improving information for students
• Improving information about students
• Reforming the applications process

The document also proposes two potential options for'post-qualification application' (PQA) systems in the longer term.

The consultation is being conducted on a UK-wide basis.

Please be aware that there are three key documents:

• Full Consultation
• Summary
• Questionnaire

The closing date for the consultation is the 5th of December 2005.

DfES website address is www.dfes.gov.uk

Context

Concerns have been raised repeatedly by NUS and others over the use of predicted grades in the application process and how these may put some students at a disadvantage when looking to secure a place on a higher education course that best suits their needs.

One proposition that has come up consistently over the years is for the introduction of a system of post-qualification applications (PQA). Under PQA, applicants would know their final exam results before making binding decisions about whether and where to apply, offering the prospect of fairer and more efficient admissions. This proposition has been supported by several influential and high profile groups including the National Committee of Inquiry, led by Sir Ron (now Lord) Dearing (appointed in 1996), the report of Sir Mike Tomlinson’s Inquiry into A-Level Standards, in December 2002, and more recently the Admissions to Higher Education Review, chaired by Professor Steven Schwartz. Charles Clarke, then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, announced on 14 September 2004 that he had asked for work to begin leading to the implementation of a system of Post-Qualification Application (PQA).

Sir Alan Wilson, Director General of Higher Education, leads this work, supported by a small Working Group including senior officials from the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly, the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

The project has drawn heavily on the help of a national consultation group, whose membership consists of a wide range of individuals from across the education sector and across the UK, including NUS’ vice-president education, Julian Nicholds.

This project was originally established to examine the options for implementing a system of PQA, However, it found that it was not desirable or possible to focus on PQA alone. Discussions have led to a number of proposals being developed that would enhance the current system, as well as paving the way for PQA.

The project focused initially on learners who apply to HE via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in the year in which they take their final school sixth form or Further Education (FE) qualifications, paying particular attention to those students whose HE choice is dependent on the results of exams which they have not yet taken. However, as the project developed to examine other aspects of the application process, it naturally considered the needs of all prospective HE students, including those who already have the qualifications they need to enter HE, part-time students, post-graduates, those taking vocational qualifications which may not be designed to meet the HE entry timetable, and overseas non-EU students.