THE University of Bolton has been criticised in a Which? report about universities' course change policies.

The report found that the University of Bolton was one of a number of “providers with terms reflecting unlawful practice” — and it was named as one of 14 which had “unfair terms in relation to the right to make changes to courses”.

Now, responding to the report, university bosses have stressed that fair treatment of students is their number one priority.

The university said Which? criticised more than 50 universities, and although it offered an “interesting perspective” it “has no authority at law”.

The university's vice-chancellor, Professor George Holmes, said: "This is important, particularly in a year when The University of Bolton has received the largest increase in student applications in the UK — over 28 per cent.

"As you would expect, each university will have taken their own legal advice on the terms and conditions section of their contract with students.

"It is surprising therefore that Which? magazine has concluded that so many, over 50 universities, are supposedly at fault.

“We are obviously looking at the magazine article observations very carefully.”

He added: “What we can assure our students at Bolton is that, as and when the governments regulator comments on our terms and conditions, and if he or she has any criticisms, we will respond properly, and make any changes necessary.

“Students, and fairness to all of them, remains our number one priority."

Which? sent out Freedom of Information Act requests to universities across the UK asking for their policies on making course changes after students have signed up.

Based on the information provided by universities, half use terms that give them freedom to change courses even when these changes could have been prevented, said Which?.

It added that, of these, one in five use terms it considered to be unlawful and in breach of consumer contract regulations, with three in ten using terms Which? considered to be bad practice and likely to be unlawful.

The figures also showed that only five per cent of universities use terms that Which? considers to be good practice.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "It’s worrying to see such widespread use of unfair terms in university contracts.

"Students deserve to know what they can expect from a course before signing up so that they can be confident they will get what they pay for.

"With tuition fees higher than ever before, we want universities to take immediate action to give students the protection they’re entitled to."

Which? said it will be submitting its findings to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and is calling on the regulator to check if universities are "complying with its guidance".