No matter which university you’re applying to in the UK, there’s one part of the application process that everyone has to complete – the UCAS Application.
UCAS stands for the University and Colleges Admissions Service and is a centralised system for UK university applications. Everyone needs to submit their application through UCAS, including applicants from other countries looking to study in the UK.
At this stage, you should already be aware of the basics in regard to your UCAS application. You need to select your five university choices, write your official Personal Statement and gather your Reference from a teacher or mentor. If you’re unsure of any of these steps, why not check out our dedicated guides:
Beyond this, there is a lot to be prepared for when it comes to the administration behind your UCAS application. With so many due dates and various additional steps in some cases, you may be hoping for all this information to be compiled in one place. Luckily, this guide does just that, so let’s take a look at what you need to know for your UCAS application!
The UCAS Application
Firstly, let’s just quickly recap the process of applying through UCAS:
| Stage | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Searching for courses and providers | Using UCAS Progress, you can look through the available courses and opportunities available. This should be alongside campus/university visits! |
| 2. Saving courses to your favourites page | With your favourite courses, it is possible to save them to make coming back to them an easy process in the future. There is no limit to the number of saved courses. |
| 3. Completing your profile | This step can be completed at any time. This is very important and needs to be completed before any application. This will include personal info, qualifications, work history, the infamous Personal Statement as well as your contact details. |
| 4. Submit UCAS application | When you are ready to apply to your saved courses, head over to the applications tab on UCAS. This will place your application into the ‘Not sent’ category until you click ‘Submit application’. |
| 5. Course preferencing | This must be completed before submitting your application. After clicking ‘Start a new application’ and having chosen your courses, you are now asked to change the order of the chosen courses and ‘Confirm course preference order’. |
| 6. Application in progress | Application has been submitted! |
| 7. Offer preferencing | This allows you to order your applications in order of preference (1st to 5th choice). |
| 8. Receiving offers & making choices | Institutions will now confirm whether they will give you a conditional or unconditional offer. Alternatively, they may mark your application as unsuccessful, or ask you to submit changes to your application or specific course choices before extending an offer. |
UCAS Deadlines 2025
There are a lot of deadlines to meet when applying to university through UCAS, including multiple final due dates, and missing just one will put your application at risk. This section highlights those key dates, making sure you are clear on what is coming up for the 2024 admissions cycle.
When Is The UCAS Deadline 2024?
UCAS has a lot of deadlines and dates to consider, but the two most important dates are as follows:
UCAS Application Deadline 2025
29th January 2025
UCAS Oxbridge/Medicine Application Deadline 2025
15th October 2024
These are the two final deadlines for submitting your UCAS application. Oxbridge and Medicine applicants need to submit their applications several months ahead of time due to the high number of applicants these courses/universities receive.
These deadlines are the most important, but it’s crucial that you know all of the key dates so that you’re prepared for each step of the process:
UCAS Key Dates - Year 1 (2024)
UCAS Registration Opens
- Date: 14th May 2024
2025 entry applicants can register and begin their applications.
Although 2025 applicants can register, they cannot pay and submit their applications until the 5th of September 2024.
UCAS Conservatoire Registration Opens
- Date: 10th Jul 2024
If you’re applying to study at a Conservatoire in 2025, your application opens today.
UCAS Application Submission Opens
- Date: 3rd Sep 2024
UCAS applications for 2025 entry can be submitted.
Universities can also begin to make decisions on the applications they have received.
UCAS Music Application Deadline
- Date: 2nd Oct 2024
Closing date for music applications.
Applications received after this date at 18:00 UK time will be classed as ‘late’ and are not guaranteed to be considered by the conservatoires.
UCAS Deadline - Oxbridge & Medicine
- Date: 15th Oct 2024
Applications for Oxford, Cambridge, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine/ Sciences and Dentistry for 2025 entry. All must be submitted by 18:00 GMT to be considered equally against other candidates.
The reference needs to be completed before the application can be sent.
UCAS Key Dates - Year 2 (2025)
UCAS Application Deadline
- Date: 29th Jan 2025
This is the 2025 UCAS entry deadline for the majority of undergraduate courses without the October 15th deadline.
Applications must be submitted by 18:00 GMT to be considered equally against other candidates. Universities can, but do not have to, consider applications received after this deadline if they still have spaces they would like to fill.
UCAS Extra Opens
- Date: 26th Feb 2025
UCAS Extra is available for candidates who are not holding any offers and have used all five of their choices.
If eligible for UCAS Extra, you can apply to more universities one at a time. Extra closes July 5th 2025.
University Decisions Are Made
- Date: Late Mar 2025
Most universities will have made decisions about your application if sent before the January 29th 2025 deadline. There may still be some outstanding applications that haven’t heard back yet.
Universities To Respond Deadline
- Date: Late May 2025
All universities and colleges must respond to applications made on or before January 29th 2025. If they do not respond, UCAS will mark the application as unsuccessful on their behalf.
UCAS Clearing Opens
- Date: 6th Jul 2025
You can apply for a course using Clearing if you’re not already holding an offer from a university or college, and the course still has places, or you’ve declined your firm place using the ‘decline my place’ button in your application.
A-Level Results Day & UCAS Adjustment Opens
- Date: Mid Aug 2025
If you’ve done better than you expected with your A-levels, you can use Adjustment to consider an alternative course. You can use adjustment if you’ve had a conditional choice accepted into an unconditional firm choice. As some students may have missed their conditions, there are sometimes open spaces on previously full courses.
Final UCAS Deadline For Course Entry
- Date: Late Sep 2025
Final UCAS deadline for 2025 course entry.
This is the final deadline for students wanting to start university in the 2025 entry cycle. The hard deadline is 18:00 GMT.
Final UCAS Clearing Deadline
- Date: Mid Oct 2025
Final UCAS Clearing deadline date and university decision deadline.
This is the final date you can apply for Clearing through UCAS Track and the final date universities can accept applicants in Clearing.
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Your UCAS Application In Progress
After you’ve toiled away for an extended period of time going to university open days and perfecting your Personal Statement, you’ve filled in the forms and have finally done all you can do to submit the UCAS application.
After this, it is a bit of a waiting game. Some universities wait until after the application deadline to review candidates, but many others instead review on a rolling basis. This means that applications will be viewed as they come in with decisions concerning places being made throughout the year.
If you have applied early (as part of a Medicine and/or Oxbridge application) this means it is more likely that you’ll be hearing back from universities sooner rather than later. Some institutions even hand out offers as early as a month after!
Some will inevitably be tardier and may reply many months after this date. Many courses for Oxford and Cambridge will also require candidates to go to Interviews, and you’ll normally hear whether you have been invited in the first week of December.
Waiting for your Offers
At this stage, it is important to keep an eye on your e-mails once you submit a UCAS application. UCAS will inform you if your application status has been updated at which point you must check the website to see for further details. Many universities also feature their own UCAS application portal, which you may need to register for. This will also send you updates on your application status.
Prior to giving offers out, many of the UK’s top courses and universities will require an interview or visit day. Depending on what the course is, this will vary in selectivity. Whilst Cambridge commits to interviewing 90% of all candidates, Oxford, instead interviews only three times as many candidates as they have places. This means that your chances if accepted to interview at Oxford, are probably higher than at Cambridge.
When Do you Get your University offers?
Many universities don’t formally reveal the date on which they send out offers, so you’ll need to be ready for them at any point during the early months of the year. However, UCAS does specify a deadline in May for universities to send out offers. You will also have a deadline for responding to these offers.
In terms of Oxbridge offers, Cambridge does not specify a set date but states that offers are typically sent out in mid to late January. Oxford, however, sends their decision letters on January 14th 2025, so mark this date in your calendar if you are applying there.
Bear in mind that if you are applying to Cambridge and have not received your offer straight away, you will still have a chance of being accepted through the Winter Pool, a system exclusive to Cambridge. Check out our guide to learn more about how this works.
Replying to UCAS Offers
Once you have received an offer or offers; you will need to respond formally on the UCAS system. This will confirm your place with the universities or colleges.
When replying to UCAS offers your main concern is most likely, of course, how to accept and reject courses. There is a different system depending on whether you are responding to conditional or unconditional offers.
Conditional Offers
If you receive multiple offers; you can select one firm choice and one insurance choice. Your firm choice should be the university you want to attend if you receive the required grades. Your insurance choice is essentially a backup; the place you commit to attending if you don’t attend your firm choice. Your insurance choice shouldn’t be an afterthought as you may well need to attend the uni you choose. You aren’t actually obliged to make an insurance choice when replying to UCAS offers, but this can increase your chances of having a secure place. When you accept an offer, all your other offers must be rejected (except your insurance).
Unconditional Offers
If you receive and accept an unconditional UCAS offer; you have committed to attending that course. If an unconditional offer is your firm choice, you will not have the option to select an insurance choice. You may choose an unconditional offer as your insurance choice; but only if the offer does not specify it must be your firm choice. Accepting an unconditional offer as your firm choice only may be a ‘condition’ of your unconditional offer.
Sometimes known as Offer Preferencing, this is a small but essential part of the process; this is a non-binding pre-emptive stage to help you choose which are your preferred institutions. This choice will be fully confirmed and become binding at a later stage.
When choosing an insurance choice, it’s important to pick a university with lower entry requirements than your firm choice (if it is a conditional choice). Once you’ve received the offer, the only thing that could prevent your admission to the course is failing to meet the required grades. Therefore, your insurance choice should have lower requirements or else you won’t be admitted to either.
If you have received an unconditional offer that isn’t your first choice, this would be ideal as your insurance pick as it will guarantee you a place to study no matter your grades.
Exam results day
Firstly, the key thing to know about results day is that, although it can be intimidating, there is absolutely no need to panic. If things don’t go the way you expected, there is an amazing support network at UCAS, and universities are hoping to match up students with courses that work for them.
This is how results day typically plays out in the UK:
- You’ll receive email communication from UCAS and universities in the morning, so you can check your results before going into school if that makes you more comfortable.
- When you get into your school, you receive a letter with your results in it.
- If you’ve met your required grades, you don’t need to accept the offer in Track – you’ve already confirmed your place. The exception is if you have an open offer from Oxford, whereby you will need to accept the offer from the college on Track.
- If you’re unsure, check your UCAS account.
- If you missed your firm offer grades but made your insurance offer, you don’t need to accept it formally. Check any communication from your university to see if they require anything more from you, as they may want some documentation for medical requirements or proof of grades.
Bear in mind that results day for international students may have a different process than this. If you’re unsure of how you receive your results, consult with the exams officer or mentors at your place of education.
However, there are some other elements to this results day; Clearing, Adjustment and Extra are the ones which most people ask about, so let’s look at them in more detail.
UCAS Clearing, Adjustment and Extra
Below is a quick guide to how the services fit in with your results.
| Did Not Meet Grades | Met Grades | Exceeded Grades | No Offers Or You've Declined All Offers: |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCAS Clearing | Match your Desired Offer | UCAS Adjustment | UCAS Extra |
As you can see, the services you need depend on your grades and whether you have missed or exceeded them.
How does UCAS Clearing work?
Clearing is there as a safety net to give students another chance at a dream university place.
The first thing to remember about Clearing is that there are lots of great options out there; there are many reasons why a university course might not be full. In 2019, 70,000 students found a course for them through Clearing.
It’s important to note that as many as 48% of students feel applying through Clearing comes across as “desperate”. This is certainly not the case, and as mentioned, there are many reasons why certain courses may be full, or you weren’t able to reach the grades you wanted.
If you do not have any offers and want to go to university, don’t be put off applying through Clearing.
It’s an opportunity to find a course that works for you when the universities have all the information they need. If you have missed your results, the steps are as follows:
- STEP 1: If you miss your grades, the first step is to call the university that made you the offer you were hoping to make. They may still take you if you missed your offer, or they may offer you a place on a different course. However, don’t panic and accept a place on a related course which doesn’t sound as appealing if you aren’t sure- take some time to think and ask trusted people if you need extra input.
- STEP 2: Call other universities. You can find a list of available courses on UCAS and you can find out if a university would take you through this system. By confirming if a university would take you, you can hold several informal offers from universities and weigh up your options. If a university makes you a formal, verbal offer over the phone, only accept it if you really intend to attend this course.
- STEP 3: Once you’ve received a formal verbal offer, you can then add your Clearing choice in Track from 3pm on results day (this is designed to give you time to consider the decision). Do not add this choice unless you have permission from the university and remember that entering this information means you have committed to this course. You can only add one Clearing choice so make sure it’s the right one.
- STEP 4: Once you’ve been confirmed – congratulations! You have your place at university, and you can celebrate having made it through the whole results day and Clearing process.
To make things easier, UCAS has introduced “Clearing Plus” in 2020 which matches you to courses you could be suited for based on your grades and course choices so far.
You can then choose “Interested” for the course on the UCAS website, and the university may contact you regarding a place on that course.
There is a lot to do on results day, especially if you don’t reach your expected entry requirements, and Clearing can be fast-paced.
Keep notes of who you speak to, their job title, and exactly which course they are offering you. It’s easy to get confused if you speak to several people, so you should have all the information to hand.
By asking their name and job title, you’ll also create a feeling of accountability for whomever you’re speaking with – it’s a small way to ensure the information you’re getting is accurate.
How does UCAS Adjustment work?
If you have exceeded the grades required for your conditional firm offer, you may wish to see if there is an alternative course that you would prefer. The key here is that you won’t “lose” the original offer if you don’t find anything, and this is purely optional.
Adjustment is available from A-Level results day until 1st September, however:
- You must register for Adjustment on Track.
- It begins when your conditional firm offer is “accepted” and therefore changes to an unconditional offer, or on A-Level publication day (whichever is later).
- You will have five days to browse, call universities and select a course.
There is no list of courses, so the official advice is to use the search tool to browse courses and then contact the admissions tutors. Remember not to verbally agree to a course unless you are absolutely sure, as you only have one Adjustment slot. If you do not find anything suitable, you may leave it blank and your original firm choice will be selected.
As with Clearing, make sure to take your time to consider your options and seek advice if you need it. Make a list of possible courses you would be interested in and keep a record of who you speak to.
How does UCAS Extra work?
UCAS Extra, as with Clearing, is there as a safety net. You are eligible for UCAS Extra if you have registered through UCAS and have not received an offer from your five choices or have rejected your choices.
Importantly, you have to have heard from all of your choices.
If you are eligible then UCAS will register you for Extra and you will be able to see the list of Universities taking applications through Extra, which you can apply to one at a time. UCAS Extra runs from February to July, after which Clearing becomes the “safety net” service.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that this has been a difficult and disrupted year and you should be proud of your achievements regardless of what happens. Remember to take a fully charged phone, notepad and your application details (including Personal Statement and GCSE grades) in case you need them for the Clearing process, but most importantly take the time to enjoy the day with your friends and family.
It’s the end of a long road and the beginning of a brand new one that will most certainly be one of the most exciting times of your life!
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