1. Good practice in entry requirements
@SPA_Admissions
Good practice in entry requirements
Jeni Clack, Admissions Support Manager
UCAS Annual Admissions Conference 2017

2. What is SPA?
Set up in 2006 following the Schwartz Report Fair Admissions to Higher Education: Recommendations for Good Practice, 2004:
“The Group recommends the creation of a central source of expertise and advice on admissions issues. Its purpose would be to act as a resource for institutions who wish to maintain and enhance excellence in admissions. Such a centre could lead the continuing development of fair admissions, evaluating and commissioning research, and spreading best practice.”

3. The SPA team
Website resources

4. Fair admissions be transparent
Admissions update
17 October 2012
Fair admissions
be transparent
enable institutions to select students who are able to complete the course as judged by their achievements and their potential
strive to use assessment methods that are reliable and valid
seek to minimise barriers to applicants
be professional in every respect and underpinned by appropriate institutional structures and processes
“Equal opportunity for all individuals, regardless of background, to gain admission to a course suited to their ability and aspirations.”

5. Fair admissions and entry requirements
HE providers should have a justifiable basis for their entry requirements, minimise barriers to participation and select applicants with the skills and knowledge to enable them to successfully complete the course. Transparent, clear and accessible information on entry requirements will allow applicants and their advisers to make the most informed and suitable match in their choices.

6. QAA UK Quality Code for HE
Chapter B2: Recruitment, selection and admission to higher education Indicator 7 “Selection processes for entry into higher education are underpinned by transparent entry requirements, both academic and non-academic, and present no unnecessary barriers to prospective students”.

7. CMA advice
Competition and Market Authority (CMA) advice to HE providers on consumer protection law Course-related material information made available to applicants must include published “entry requirements/criteria (both academic and non-academic), and an indication of the standard/typical offer level criteria.

8. SPA’s good practice
The distinction between entry requirements, typical/standard offers and actual offers made
Considerations for reviewing entry requirements
Considerations for publishing and communicating entry requirements

9. Entry requirements
Entry requirements, or entry criteria, represent the normal requirements an applicant is expected to achieve in order to be considered for a place on the course.
Likely to be far broader than what may appear in an offer
Should include the full range of academic and non-academic requirements
Not necessarily the exact grades that will be requested, but the prerequisites for making an offer.

10. Typical offers
Typical offers, or standard offers, refer to the offers a course expects to normally make for applicants meeting the entry requirements. They are commonly published within the entry requirements themselves, but are subject to change closer to the start of the admissions cycle.
Usually based on historical data
Indicative only and do not represent a guarantee that all offers will be at that level
Offers to individual applicants could vary for e.g. consideration of contextual factors; progression agreements

11. Actual offers
Actual offers made should relate to both the published entry requirements and typical offers and should not include any extra requirements. Adding new requirements, such as subject-specific qualifications or work experience, is unfair and imposes barriers to entry.
May be appropriate to vary the offers made within published requirements
Terms and conditions for entry should be made absolutely clear to the applicant before they accept any offer.
How are academic and non-academic requirements conveyed to applicants to ensure they are fully aware of what is expected of them?

12. Which do you display?
Entry requirements represent the normal requirements an applicant is expected to achieve in order to be considered for a place on the course.
Typical offers, or standard offers, refer to the offers a course expects to normally make for applicants meeting the entry requirements.
Actual offers made should relate to the published entry requirements and typical offers and should not include any extra requirements.

13. Approaches to entry requirements
The absolute minimum required for consideration, based on the lowest matriculation requirements identified in the course validation: E.g. “Five GCSEs including English and Mathematics plus two A levels.”
Higher requirements based on agreed selective levels: E.g. “Ten GCSEs at grade A including English, Mathematics and a foreign language, plus three A levels at grades ABB.”

14. Continued…
The absolute maximum required as a guarantee to applicants that no offer will exceed it.
Differential entry requirements for applicants who fulfil certain criteria: E.g. “AAA - ABB at A level”

15. ?
What’s your approach?
The absolute minimum required for consideration
Higher requirements based on agreed selective levels
The absolute maximum required
Differential entry requirements

16. Reviewing Ensure staff have an informed understanding
Review qualification profiles of applicants
Consider qualification reform
Ensure equivalency
Use reliable and consistent assessment methods
Mitigate the risk of unconscious bias
Monitor progression of students
Adhere to contractual obligations

17. Changing
It is not good practice to change entry requirements after they’ve been published.
Where changes are deemed necessary:
Widely publicise both the change and reason
Update online information promptly
Clear internal and external comms
Reflect in offer libraries or standard offer text

18. Publishing and communicating
Should be clear for all applicants and easily navigable, allowing applicants to find requirements most relevant to them.
Admissions cycle
Clearing or main-scheme
Different modes of study
Frequently encountered, with signposting
Combinations of qualification types
Legacy, current and future

19. Language and terminology
Should be precise and specific, and describe exactly what is required.
Exact qualification, level, subject
Same name but different
‘or equivalent’
Help text for terms
Exclusions
Alternative offers

20. Thank you
Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact the SPA team:
All of our resources are freely available on our website:
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