Getting an Offer

If you have submitted your UCAS application form by the mid-January deadline, then you should expect to hear from all your chosen institutions by the end of March. You can track your offers through the UCAS web site, and you also have the option of receiving decisions through the post or by e-mail.

Types of Decisions

There are a number of decisions an institution can make about your application:

1. Conditional Offer

If a university or college gives you a conditional offer, this means that they will offer you a place if you meet certain conditions - usually that you get certain grades in your exams. You may be asked to achieve a certain number of points, or you may be required to achieve specific grades in named subjects. For example, a student applying for BA English may be required to achieve an A grade in English and 2 B's in any other subject.

2. Unconditional Offer

An unconditional offer means you have already satisfied entry requirements and are accepted on the course. The institution may request proof of your qualifications.

3. Unsuccessful Application

This means that the college or university has decided not to admit you to the course.

4. Withdrawn Application

An institution may return this response for a number of reasons:

• You have withdrawn at your own request.
• You have not responded to one or more communications from the institution.
• You did not attend your interview.

Replying to Offers

When you have received decisions from all your universities or colleges, you will have the chance to accept or decline any offers. For each offer, you can choose one of three options:

• firm acceptance
• insurance acceptance
• decline

However, you can only accept a maximum of two offers - one firm acceptance, and one insurance acceptance. All other offers must be declined. If you firmly accept a place, you are committed to attending that university or college if you meet the conditions of their offer.

The following table lists the various replies you can make to an institutions decision.

Once you have made your decision, you can return ONE of the following responses:

• UF - Unconditional offer firmly accepted
• CF - Conditional of...