‘York St John gave me an offer and then discontinued the course’

Can YSJ do anything right?


A-Levels and UCAS are but a distant memory for most of us. But many will recall that the overriding joy of receiving an offer from a university was enough to make the dreaded exams seem tolerable. For Emily Seddon, a sixth form student in Manchester, this wasn’t the case.

After sending off her UCAS application in late October 2015, Emily was nothing short of joyous when she received an unconditional offer from YSJ for International Tourism and Hospitality Management.

However in mid-January Emily received an email from the university which said her chosen course had been discontinued, despite the fact she had already sent off her UCAS application and therefore couldn’t adjust her application choices.

YSJ retracted Emily’s offer after they decided not to offer her preferred course

Despite no longer being able to attend YSJ, the university have flooded Emily with emails asking her to attend open days and tours of the campus. On numerous occasions she has replied informing them she “will not be attending due to the course [she] applied for being discontinued” – but they have taken no notice.

In late April, YSJ emailed Emily once more, asking her to fill out a survey as to why she declined their offer for her chosen course, which Emily described as “rude” and “inconsiderate”. Emily told The Tab: “Obviously the admissions team aren’t aware of what emails they’ve previously sent”.

A spokesperson from YSJ told The Tab: “York St John has conducted a portfolio refresh exercise and realigned our programmes to make them more attractive to students and employers. This programme no longer fits with our new portfolio.”

Despite all of this, Emily is looking to attend the University of Surrey in the upcoming autumn to study  International Tourism and Hospitality Management. She is looking forward to being at a university that actually keeps track of its courses.

If you’ve experienced something similar, email [email protected] with your story.