Unconditional university offers are much higher than previously thought because universities are upgrading places, new UCAS data has revealed.

A report released today shows that 116,945 unconditional offers were handed out to students starting university in 2018, up from the 67,915 unconditional offers originally reported in July this year.

The substantial rise, described as “disturbing” by an education minister, is down to a new type of offer being made by universities known as ‘conditional unconditional’ offers, which UCAS has investigated for the first time this year.

Starting in 2013, the new administrative process is when a university initially gives a prospective student a conditional offer, meaning they will only be given a place if they meet their predicted A-level grades. But when the student then makes the university their first choice, the offer is upgraded to an unconditional, meaning their place is confirmed before they have even received their grades.

Dr Christina Edgar, the director of admissions at Sheffield University, said this new tactic is a “marketing incentive rather than an academic decision” made by universities to entice the student into accepting the place.