This afternoon a group of 12 us met to start thinking about the Undergraduate Prospectus for admission in 2013.  We were drawn from the Admissions Office, from Marketing, and with me as the acacdemic and UEB representative.

Why so early?  The 2011 intake hasn't yet arrived, and we haven't yet received any UCAS forms for 2012 entry (although we soon will). I remember being at a small meeting with a high ranking official from the Department of Busines, Innovation and Skills 12 months ago who ws telling us (in relation to 2012 admission) that we would have full guidance from his department on government thinking by September 2011 (i.e. now).  We told him that that was at least 8 months too late, and he visibly paled before us.  Why so soon?

Let's work backwards.  In order to be admitted in September 2013, candidates have to submit their UCAS forms by January of that year.  Such forms will need to be completed by candidates and schools / colleges during the autumn of 2012.  University Open Days, all round the country, will take place during the period June to September 2012, with various recruitment fairs and events preceding them from Easter 2012 onwards to get information across to Y12 (or first year sixth form) young people.  Prospectuses therefore need to be ready by March 2012, and with a print run of 100,000 (which is how many we print) it is big operation to get to that stage.  Copy for the presses has to be ready by the end of January, and with around 70 different areas of the university inputting to the document, we  need to start during the autumn of 2011.  Hence our meeting this afternoon to plan the 2013 prospectus.

Doing so this year seems even more before times than usual. With the significant change in the fees regime next year, we don't yet have any idea how students will react, what sort of information they or their parents or advisers will be looking for, or the questions they will be asking us.  We have certainly done the market research, but the robustness of the findings is yet to be tested.

This very long lead time to admissions, and the BIS official's lack of recognition of it, make what is currently happening for 2012 entry even more difficult.  The first UCAS forms will be with us within a couple of weeks, yet there are still very significant national consultations going on about target numbers, the funding of places, and a whole set of parameters that need to influence our strategy in making offers. Universities have this week been given the chance to rewrite their painstakingly produced OFFA (Office of Fair Access) agreements on widening participation, lower their fee levels, and enter a competition for places.  The outcomes of the competition will not be known for months - well after the bulk of their offers need to be made.  Universities are in a seemingly impossible situation in deciding how to operate in the admissions cycle leading to 2012 entry.

We are expecting, within days, an announcement about a move to post-qualifications admission - with the whole process operated over a four month period from June to September after the early declaration of candidates' level 3 (usually A level) grades. This year it almost seems as if we are being set up to agree to anything that gets us away from the current system.  But it remains to be seen whether any proposed change will have been thoroughly thought through: spotting potential unintended consequences of new proposals in higher education is something we are all getting quite skilled at.