Bath Spa University to ignore grades and offer £750 bonus to new students

Bath Spa University has become the first in the country to ignore grades and move to unconditional offers only.

Every single student applying to the university this year will be offered a face-to-face interview or audition, and they may be asked to submit a portfolio of their work if applying for a course in art or design. If they impress tutors, they will be offered a place regardless of their A-level results.

School leavers who exceed the A-level grades predicted by their school will be awarded a £750 bonus by the university if they take up a place at Bath Spa.  

Professor Sue Rigby, vice-Chancellor of the university, said that the new admissions policy is aimed at reducing the anxiety and stress that students endure in their final years of school. 

“Young people are asked to jump through so many hoops before they get to university, they maybe forget that this is their passion,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

“It is about recognising that A-levels are not the only way of judging the 'best' students. So much rides on a very small amount of time and I’m not sure that is the right way to encourage people. If you are tense and miserable when you arrive at university, your chances of doing well are very low.”

“We would offer an interview to everyone - not everyone would take it up, it may be that they are not so interested in coming. But everyone who is serious about coming, we want to talk to. It’s a massive investment by us but it’s the only way to source the right talent.”

She said that the university, which specialises in liberal arts, has set aside enough money so that even if every single student exceeds their predicted grades, they will all be given the £750 bonus.

“It’s a punt - but if I was lucky enough to get a cohort all of whom did better than expected I would be opening champagne, I would be taking the financial hit,” Prof Rigby said.

“We have moved resources within our existing budgets to prioritise this initiative because it is about shaping the university application process around the students and their needs now.

“A cynic might say you are only doing this to get people through the door - I say I am doing this to get the right people through the door.”

The university will not stipulate how the £750 should be spent, but Prof Rigby added that students are very financially aware and would be unlikely to fritter away the money.

“The odd student might enjoy a weekend in night clubs - they are adults, I'm not going to stop that,” she said. “But students are very sensible these days.”   

The university piloted the interview-based admissions system last year and will roll it out fully for this year’s new cohort. It will be in place for three years, and after that the university will carry out a review.

Prof Rigby, who will give a speech about the new admissions system and other initiatives at the Holburne Museum in Bath this evening [WEDS], said she hopes more universities will follow suit.

Several other universities have moved against unconditional offers in recent months including St Mary's University, Twickenham which announced last month that it would no longer make them in order to maintain standards. 

Professor John Brewer, its pro-Vice Chancellor said that students who were given unconditional offers were "effectively taking their foot off the pedal" in their final year of school. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday [TUES], the university’s vice-Chancellor said it is important that universities "don’t to generate a culture where young people have things handed to them on a plate. Life is all about working hard, at school, at university, and when you are applying for a job".