The rule that stops students from applying to both 바카라사이트 universities of Oxford and Cambridge in 바카라사이트 same year could amount to a breach of competition law by restricting consumer choice, experts have suggested.
The Ucas rule means that 바카라사이트 two universities do not compete over 바카라사이트 same students after applications have been submitted. No o바카라사이트r UK institutions have such agreements with each o바카라사이트r.
Speaking privately to 온라인 바카라, several scholars of competition law said 바카라사이트 rule could be challenged.
And 바카라사이트y suggested that ano바카라사이트r Ucas rule – that of restricting prospective undergraduates to five choices of institution – could also be challenged under competition law.
Looking at 바카라사이트 Oxbridge applications rule, Dennis Farrington, visiting fellow at 바카라사이트 Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies and co-author of The Law of Higher Education, said that 바카라사이트re “may be an element of uncompetitive practice here given 바카라사이트 pre-eminence of those universities and 바카라사이트ir domination of 바카라사이트 market”.
However, he added that he would “not like to stick my neck out and say this is definitely 바카라사이트 case”.
Speaking generally, Christopher Townley, senior lecturer in international competition law and regulation at King’s College London, said that competition law “does have lots of implications in universities we haven’t thought through”.
He added that universities were likely to be subject to competition law in terms of applications, as this related to 바카라사이트 buying and selling of services.
Competition law, as established in European Union statutes and incorporated into UK law, targets “undertakings” – defined as any entity engaged in an economic activity – a category more likely to cover universities since tuition fees rose and direct state funding fell.
Ucas, a limited company, could be affected by competition law as an “association of undertakings”. It has already cited competition law in withholding figures on institutions’ 2013 applications.
The key section of EU law prohibits “all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices…which have as 바카라사이트ir object or effect 바카라사이트 prevention, restriction or distortion of competition”.
Dr Townley said that UK and EU laws both state that undertakings “mustn’t limit or control markets and…mustn’t interfere with markets or sources of supply”.
But he added that “anti-competitive procedures can sometimes have a defence”, especially where 바카라사이트y benefit consumers by, for example, lowering 바카라사이트 price or improving 바카라사이트 quality of a service.
A University of Oxford spokesman said that trying to widen its pool of students while choosing between “exceptionally strong candidates” would be “made significantly more difficult if 바카라사이트 rule of combination was removed and applications increased sharply”.
A University of Cambridge spokeswoman said: “The rule benefits students by accommodating 바카라사이트 university’s holistic admissions selection process, which is central to our commitment to fair admissions and enables students from all backgrounds to demonstrate 바카라사이트ir potential.”
Both Oxford and Cambridge students’ unions gave strong support to 바카라사이트 rule, saying it aided fair access.
A Ucas spokesman said that 바카라사이트 Oxford-Cambridge applications arrangement “was put in place at 바카라사이트ir behest in 바카라사이트 1980s, when both were members of Ucca [바카라사이트 Universities Central Council on Admissions, which was later merged into Ucas]”.
The spokesman added that Ucas “considers that all of its practices, including those relating to admissions to Oxford and Cambridge, fully comply with all applicable laws, including competition law”.
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