Fake admission letter- help!

Would have to see the actual e-mail (not asking), but that tends to lend weight to what Forest cat said and isnt an offer of itself, it juts refers to one. Its not unreasonable to think one was coming or had been made elsewhere.

Your only options as far as I can see are :
1. Informal complaint, which you are doing. You will have to wait and its completely at their discretion whether they feel obligated or not. If they investigate and find out its an admin error by admissions rather than the department itself I imagine they will feel less obligated.
2. They will have a formal complaints procedure, which will be to the Uni and not via the department. I would hnestly expect the Uni to back the department, but it depends what they found and I wouldnt be hopeful.
3. The office of the independent adjudicator, which handles student complaints, will not deal with ones about admissions
4. You can consult a lawyer to bring a claim, but that would be expensive (many thousands) and the Uni would fight. From what youve said I dont think your case is strong enough to force them to give you a place or get much more than an apology, becayse it wasnt an offer.

Ofc thats just my opinion and I think what you are doing is about as much as can be done.. Fingers crossed they might be able to make room for you and GL.

The dean has informed me at the time that it was a computer error and that happens rarely.
As long as there wasn't a contract signed between us i cant force them to give me a place but i would for sure sue them for negligence and torment because i have made crucial decisions based on their mistake.

For someone who's this is his fourth time of trying to get a place, It is like telling a guy he has won the lottery and two weeks later telling him, oppss sorry we sincerely apologize but you haven't.

I don't see how you've a claim for negligence

Not sure you are getting the point that forest cat was making and I havent seen the communication. It referred to you getting an offer, but it was not an offer of itself nor did it look like one.

Not seeing how you have claim in negligence. Obviously go and consult a lawyer if that will put your mind at rest.

As the e-mail wasnt an offer and you failed to verify, the subseqyent actions by yourself were your decision to cancel the place at the German Uni. My instant reaction would have been to check/accept or accept with the British Uni, which would have revealed the error.

Im not convinced you have enough to force them to give you a place, nor do I think beyond an apology thats what they will do.

If on the other hand you had an eomail or letter direct from the deapetment offeirng you a place, but you had been the wrong person, then you would have a stronger case. The area isnt covered by the OA, so their complaints procedure or legal action are your only options if you are unsatisfied with the Dean.

Have you put the complaint in writing? Are they looking into it for you?

I don't understand ForestCat's distinction between the medical school and it's parent university - they are almost certainly one and the same legal entity.

Without seeing the email in full, I think that "Congratulations on receiving an offer from our medical school" could be interpreted as an offer, although that point is certainly arguable.

There is however no contract between the OP and this university because a contract requires offer and acceptance. There was no acceptance and the email didn't give instructions about how to accept the place because, as we now know, it was never intended to be an offer in the first place, even if it might have appeared to be one.

There is possibly a claim for negligence... the university has clearly breached a duty of care (albeit in what appeared to be a small way) by sending an email to the wrong person. If that breach caused the OP harm, which s/he tells us it did in the form of a lost medical school place, then a court could award damages. UK courts are rarely willing to award damages for disappointment/suffering but could easily find that the loss of a medical career amounts to a financial cost.*

I don't understand ForestCat's distinction between the medical school and it's parent university - they are almost certainly one and the same legal entity.

Without seeing the email in full, I think that "Congratulations on receiving an offer from our medical school" could be interpreted as an offer, although that point is certainly arguable.

There is however no contract between the OP and this university because a contract requires offer and acceptance. There was no acceptance and the email didn't give instructions about how to accept the place because, as we now know, it was never intended to be an offer in the first place, even if it might have appeared to be one.

There is possibly a claim for negligence... the university has clearly breached a duty of care (albeit in what appeared to be a small way) by sending an email to the wrong person. If that breach caused the OP harm, which s/he tells us it did in the form of a lost medical school place, then a court could award damages. UK courts are rarely willing to award damages for disappointment/suffering but could easily find that the loss of a medical career amounts to a financial cost.*

No i haven't made a written complaint. all my communications were with the faculty's dean.

I have already understood that i can't "force" them to give me a place.

what does this "OA" mean by the way ?

I will tell you how:

The system should not have these kind of errors and start "mistaken" and send people email such the one i received. It is people's life we are talking about here.
Its not anyone's fault that they have these kind of error.

two years ago i think, an American airline has offered a 1000$ ticket deal for just 99$ because of a system error and the tickets were sold out within one hour i think and when they discovered it they tried to cancel but they lost the case in court because people are not responsible for their mistakes and they have to take responsibility for it. we had the same story but with tourism agency and also here the buyers 'won".

it it their responsibility to take care of the maintenance of their systems and avoid these kind of errors.

So it's not anyone's fault and at the same time theu have responsibility not to do this?

Perhaps I should have phrased my post a different way. Perhaps I should have just said you don't have a claim in negligence.

The duty of care they owe you is limited. Even if it weren't, there isn't a strong argument they have breached it.

Moving on from that, even if they have breached it, it's at least questionable whether or not their mistake is the cause of your situation. It is a reasonable assumption that a candidate understands the system under which they apply. A candidate who understands the system would not have acted in the way you did - an email talking about an offer is clearly not an offer and so it is unreasonable fo ryou to have relied on it. In essence, you have been more negligent than them.

Then there is the question as to whether the outcome was reasonably foreseeable. Could the univeristy have reasonably foreseen that a mistaken marketing email referencing an offer would have caused you to cancel your interview at another university? Unless you specifically communicated to the university at the time of your application you would do so, I don't see how they could have. It is more than reasonable to assume you would go through the process at a number of universities and then make your decision based upon al lthe offers you receive.

Finally, you have to show financial loss and you can't.

The situation you describe in the American case is completely different to yours. That talks about contractual offer and acceptance. In any event, that case would have been decided differently in a court in England and Wales, as here there is the right to unwind a contract if the mistake should have been obvious.

I am not saying your situation isn't a **** one. Just that I don't think you can sue them successfully. Even if you could sue them in negligence you would get some sort of nominal pay out - it wouldn't get you a place at the university as that isn't a remedy available in a negligence action so it doesn't help you anyway.

I didn't say they owe me something because they don't. yet they do for sure have responsibility and duty to maximize the efficiency of their system and eliminate these kind of errors.

Furthermore, i am not denying my part or fault in this because i indeed had to verify this email. this is my first time ever of applying to British university and i thought this kind of wording IS the acceptance decision !!

I have received an offer today and this time for real

now i see the difference between the two of them.

Thank you all for the help and advice you have given me.

Well done

Can I ask if this is a private medical school? I am genuinely curious who accepts applications that are not part of UCAS.

I have received an offer today and this time for real

now i see the difference between the two of them.

Thank you all for the help and advice you have given me.

Great news.

Fourth time of trying well done for persevering what will be a life changing event. Go and celebrate.

I have received an offer today and this time for real

now i see the difference between the two of them.

Thank you all for the help and advice you have given me.

Unfortunately it comes with a price, instead of starting at the age of 28, i"ll start now at the age of 32. It is not optimal.