Bristol Uni to accept applicants who now meet grade requirements after government U-turn

By Teddy Coward, Co-Editor-in-Chief

The acceptance of students stands for all course offers, except where there is an externally-determined cap such as medicine or dentistry.

The University of Bristol has said it is ‘delighted to confirm that [it] will accept applicants who have met the terms of their offer’ after the government’s announcement earlier today that teacher assessments would be used to determine A-Levels instead of a controversial algorithm.

The acceptance of students with revised A-Levels will be in place for all course offers except for where there is an externally-determined cap such as medicine or dentistry, or where other constraints, such as health and safety concerns, need to be considered.

In these instances, the University have said the offer may need to be deferred for a year.

The University has explained it is ‘working with relevant agencies to support applicants who have applied to programmes with an external cap and will provide further updates to applicants as quickly as [it] can.’

In a statement, the University added: ‘We know how challenging this year has been for students receiving results, as well as their parents, carers and teachers, and we welcome the Government’s decision that A-Level results will be determined by teacher-predicted grades.

‘We will do everything we can to support applicants in these unprecedented circumstances.

‘While we await further advice from UCAS and the Government on how results will be processed, our Admissions Team is working hard to manage student re-grades and release decisions as quickly as possible.

‘We are working to respond to the changing guidelines as swiftly as we are able. We will have more information available online for applicants shortly.’

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Earlier this evening, the Department for Education announced it was removing a cap placed on the number of students Universities in England could recruit, allowing pupils to return to their first choice Universities with their teacher assessed grades.

The government’s U-turn came after widespread frustration from students, parents and politicians over the Ofqual algorithm that had downgraded almost 40% of teacher assessed grades.

The algorithm also prompted anger by seeming to increase inequality, and advantage private schools, which saw nearly double the number of increases in top marks compared to state comprehensives.

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Are you pleased for A-Level students with the decision to use teacher assessed grades over the Ofqual algorithm?