University of Warwick “mistakenly” offers Clearing applicant wrong course

A Clearing applicant to the University of Warwick had her offer withdrawn due to “a mistake” by the admissions team, three days after she declined the universities she originally considered going to.

Danie Shanice, who has since chosen to enrol at another university, applied to Warwick for History and Sociology through Clearing after she received her A-level grades which were higher than what was required by the universities of Birmingham and Kent, her original choices.

Three days after she was offered a place on the course over the phone, which was confirmed in an email, the University apologised to her in a follow-up email saying that “a mistake was made by (their) hotline operative” which was realised upon reviewing her application.

While the University would “definitely be able to make (her) an offer to study at Warwick”, Ms Shanice will be placed on the Sociology course instead.

They explained that it was because she had not taken A-level History, which is required for History and Sociology. They added that she would be “at a significant disadvantage” if she were to take on the course.

The University contacted her after conducting “many grade checks”, Ms Shanice alleged, who turned down the universities of Birmingham and Kent three days before the news.

Since then, the University of Birmingham’s Clearing system has closed while places for Law at the University of Kent have all been taken. Ms Shanice said that Warwick’s admissions team had offered to try contacting them.

Ms Shanice tweeted that because of Warwick, she now has “bottom priority for choice of accommodation” at her new university and “no longer (has) the option of an en-suite and (has) to share a bathroom with strangers”

Ms Shanice posted the two emails on Twitter. Her post has since garnered over 1,000 likes as well as hundreds of replies and retweets mentioning the University of Warwick’s Twitter account, who responded to the tweet with an apology and offered a phone call.

Among the commentators on Ms Shanice’s experience was former Education Officer for Warwick’s Students’ Union (SU) Larissa Kennedy, who further questioned whether the University’s actions comply with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s advice on consumer law for higher education providers.

Responding to enquiries from The Boar, the University said: “We’re pleased to have been able to support the applicant in successfully securing a place on one of their original choices and apologise for this situation and any distress it may have caused.”

Ms Shanice tweeted that because of Warwick, she now has “bottom priority for choice of accommodation” at her new university and “no longer (has) the option of an en-suite and (has) to share a bathroom with strangers”.

The news comes as almost 70% of courses at the University of Warwick are offered in Clearing this year, including courses such as History and Engineering.