Can admissions decisions be challenged in the courts?
Universities regard the decision as to who they will teach as an important aspect of academic freedom. The courts have accepted that there is no general duty on institutions to give reasons for rejecting an application. However, for the purposes of public law, universities are regarded as public bodies. Their decisions can be challenged if they are not fair and in accordance with published procedures or if they are wholly unreasonable. Provided universities operate their admissions processes properly, an application for a judicial review of refusal to offer a place is unlikely to succeed. Judges are extremely reluctant to second guess academic judgments of the relative merits of a large number of applicants with similar academic credentials. Avoiding discrimination Admissions decisions are, however, subject to the spreading web of anti-discrimination law, which now covers discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, religion and belief as well as of gender or race. From 2006, d
