CONTROVERSIAL “conditional unconditional” university offers will be banned until September 2021 under new rules revealed today by an education regulator.

Such offers give students a place regardless of their A-level grades on condition they make the university their firm first choice.

But now the Office for Students (OfS) is prohibiting any university from giving out such offers.

It has also ruled out universities making false or misleading statements with the intention of discouraging students from attending other institutions.

Universities who breach them could be fined more than £500,000.

The condition has been introduced in consultation with the higher education sector and is a temporary response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a fixed end date, according to the OfS.

The new rules also still allow universities to make “contextual offers” to students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, who may get lower grades than required, to recognise the different circumstances around their results.

The move comes amid a sharp increase in “conditional unconditional” offers in recent years. 

Data published by Ucas earlier this year showed that in 2019 there were 35 universities and colleges where at least 1 per cent of offers were “conditional unconditional.”

Critics have slammed the practice due to concerns they encourage students not to work hard to get the best A-level results.

The University and College Union backed the move for a “fairer admissions system.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “It is time we joined the rest of the world and moved to post-qualification admissions system, where students receive offers after their results.”

The government also supported the change. Universities Minister Michelle Donelan said that there was “no justification for conditional unconditional offers” and that she hopes “to see this continue beyond 2021.”