This year has seen exams take place again for the first time since 2019, a move back towards the pre-pandemic norm for schools and colleges across the country. But the cohort of young people taking exams this year have faced years of disruption to their educations, which has continued even when they've been back in the classroom. Mitigations for…

Each month, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) surveys a random sample of individuals who three months prior registered on mba.com--the GMAC™ website for prospective graduate business students. Their survey responses provide an inside look into the decision-making process of people currently considering applying to a graduate…

Each month, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) surveys a random sample of individuals who three months prior registered on mba.com--the GMAC™ website for prospective graduate business students. Their survey responses provide an inside look into the decision-making process of people currently considering applying to a graduate…

An effective higher education admissions system is key to ensuring the stability of the education sector and commanding public confidence in the ability of universities and colleges to deliver the best outcomes for students. Universities and colleges are autonomous in their admissions processes, but these processes are delivered in line with…

Each month, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) surveys a random sample of individuals who three months prior registered on mba.com--the GMAC™ website for prospective graduate business students. Their survey responses provide an inside look into the decision-making process of people currently considering applying to a graduate…

In this new Policy Note, Rachel Hewitt, HEPI's Director of Policy and Advocacy, highlights the need to distinguish between mental health and well-being and calls for more comprehensive data to be made available on the well-being of all those work and study at universities. Key points: (1) The conflation of mental health and well-being is not…

We reveal the current level of flexible admission systems (FAS) at UK universities, and explore its impact on student enrollment rates. We employ quantitative analysis techniques for data collected and customized from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in the UK, during the period 2010-2015. To understand the impact of FAS on student…

This article explores how schools with below average attainment can support high-attaining learners in their decision-making about university. We report on a project involving longitudinal case studies of 43 high-achieving learners from a range of backgrounds across five institutions, during their sixth form career in 2013/14 and 2014/15, focusing…

There are increasing calls for the UCAS personal statement to be reformed. These calls are based on the claim that the current personal statement gives unfair advantages to more privileged applicants within higher education admissions. While this topic has attracted political attention, there is much about the personal statement that remains…

This report reviews literature on both sides of the Atlantic to study the admissions process, specifically focusing on elements of the process which may prove to be particular barriers to disadvantaged students--including the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) form, course choices, predicted grades, and personal statements--and looks…

Higher education institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom increasingly require prospective students to disclose past criminal history on admissions applications. However, a social movement aimed at improving opportunities for people with criminal records may force higher education to reconsider this practice. This paper offers a…

We study the UK's university application system, in which students apply based on predicted examination grades, rather than actual results. Using three years of UK university applications data we find that only 16% of applicants' predicted grades are accurate, with 75% of applicants having over-predicted grades. However, high-attaining,…

HEPI's response to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding covers the following 10 areas: (1) Part-time learners; (2) Differential fees; (3) Maintenance grants; (4) Mixed funding model; (5) Uses of tuition fees; (6) Misunderstanding among applicants; (7) Outreach versus spending on bursaries; (8) Accounting treatment of student loans; (9)…

Less-advantaged students are under-represented at prestigious universities, but can we infer that they actively avoid them? This research measured university applicants' knowledge of 115 UK universities. Using card-sort tasks within an interview format, 56 Year 13 students from different types of 16-19 education described how they chose five…

Purpose: Prospective students are exposed to abundant choices, and they are eagerly searching for information to select the best universities for themselves. Likewise, prospectuses are regularly produced by universities to meet this information needs; the purpose of this paper is to examine the key marketing messages used in their prospectuses.…