Are unis allowed to ask where else you've applied to?

I had an interview for the Brighton Graphic Design course this week and I felt that the tutor wasn't interested in my portfolio but asked about where I had applied for, what offers I had. We spent more time talking about an offer I held more than anything else and they said things including 'I thought X uni was quite slow at replying to people' and 'I know a lot of people don't understand X uni course'.

This was my third uni interview and I felt it was quite unfair as I was judged on something that was irrelevant to my work. I guess I won't know until I recieve an offer/rejection.

Any thoughts?

Universities are automatically told by UCAS where else you applied to after you have firmed and insured your top two unis. They are not told beforehand for very good reasons - namely that it could influence the selection process.

As per this thread http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=62661445 it's against UCAS rules to ask about it. You could report them to UCAS, but you'd have more difficulty proving it than the person in the other thread because it wasn't in writing. However, don't let that put you off complaining to UCAS - they may receive complaints from others too.

I suspect that this is someone who hasn't been properly trained by Admissions and who is worried about the number of applicants who will firm elsewhere. Saying 'I know a lot of people don't understand X uni course' may be an attempt to influence you into not choosing that course.

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Thank you, that's interesting. Part of me did think it might have done as a persuasive tactic but it didn't feel like it really. Especially as it was a portfolio interview. I will wait and see what happens in regards to offers.

INVISIBILITY OF CHOICES
4.9 You have no right to see details of any applicationsto other providers until the applicant replies or has no‘live’ choices. To ensure that this agreed ‘principle ofinvisibility’ is adhered to, you must not request informationfrom applicants about choices to other providers, eitherduring interviews, visits or open days or by written means.

It's worth letting the admissions office know that this happened. It's very likely that the interviewer wasn't aware of the rules about invisibility of choices and so the admissions office need to do a bit of staff training

(ftr UCAS instructions to universities state:

so it's pretty clear )

Just out of interest, when did it change? I can't remember. Must have been when it went over to online applications. In the Dark Ages when I did mine, on paper, you had to list them in order of preference and my top choice rejected me and said to my headmistress in her complaining phone call (those were the days...) that there was no point in giving me an offer because I had four others that were all lower than they would have given, so obviously I wouldn't consider them anyway.

It was around 2003ish IIRR. Largely a result of some naughty (but within the rules) behaviour by Manchester (and I'm sure others) waiting to see what other universities offered and then matching the conditions of the highest offer.

I guess it was helped by the spread of technology. I must admit that my sympathies for admissions tutors in the days of handwritten UCAS forms shrunk to A5 size are sincere and heartfelt.

They only went officially in 2013 and that was too soon for a lot of universities....http://www.spa.ac.uk/support/paperlessprocessing/

I know a few places where results weekend consists of a lot of printing out labels and sticking them to applicant summary sheets