UNIVERSITY offers based on predicted grades would be scrapped by a Labour government to promote social mobility, the party has announced ahead of A-level results day tomorrow.

Students would apply for their higher-education place after receiving their exam results instead of relying on predicted grades in a system that “unfairly penalises,” shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said.

Educational charity the Sutton Trust has warned that poorer students are more likely to have their grades underpredicted than their wealthier peers, making them less likely to apply to the most selective institutions.

Ms Rayner said: “No-one should be left out of our education system just because of their background, yet with grants scrapped and fees tripled, the system is now deeply unfair.   

“We will work with schools, colleges, and universities to design and implement the new system and continue to develop our plans to make higher education genuinely accessible to all.”

University & College Union general secretary Jo Grady welcomed the proposal. She said: “It is time we adopted the type of system used around the rest of the world where university offers are based on actual achievements instead of guesswork.”

The plan was also praised by Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust. He said: “The Labour Party is right to look at overhauling the university admissions system.

“The current system is based on students’ predicted grades, which are wrong most of the time. Moving to a system of post-qualification applications would empower the student to make the best university choice for them.”