Timetable for applications

When should you apply for your degree course?

Applications for full time undergraduate courses are made up to a year in advance of the date of entry, which is usually in September/October, the start of the academic year. However, it is important to note that certain courses do start at other times of year (January - May) therefore it is essential to check the dates for the courses you wish to apply for.  You may apply before you have completed the exams which will qualify you for entry, or after obtaining your results. If you wish to take a gap year between leaving school and going to university, you may apply for deferred entry, particularly if you intend to be abroad for much of that year. International students (outside the UK and EU) may have their applications considered up to 30 June, but not for those courses which have a cut-off date of 15 October.

UCAS logoAll applications for full-time places on undergraduate courses go through a central organisation called UCAS (The University and Colleges Admissions Service) on a single online application form. Depending on what you wish to study, you may enter to up to four or six choices on the same form. Wherever you are applying from, with your permission, Gabbitas Education can access your form as you complete it and guide you on every step of the process and then on what to do after you have submitted the form.

Applications for Oxford, Cambridge, medicine, dentistry and veterinary science must be submitted by 15 October for entry the following October without fail. Applicants for Oxford and Cambridge are also required to complete the university's own form and are advised to nominate a college (though this last point may change in the case of Oxford as the university is reviewing its application process). Fuller details of the entry procedures for these universities are given on their websites or can be obtained from us.

Applications for other universities and most other courses should be submitted by 15 January, although earlier applications are recommended if there is likely to be a high level of competition. Separate rules operate for students applying for some art courses, where the cut-off date is 24 March. It is important to check the exact date for the courses that you are considering.

Some universities routinely interview students as part of the applications procedure. Otherwise, in general, the applicant will be assessed on whether he or she is likely to meet, or has already met the admissions criteria for the course, their motivation and overall potential, and the comments made by their referee. If universities then wish to accept you, they will either make you an outright offer if you have already fulfilled the entry criteria, or a conditional one if you are still completing your course. If you do not meet the criteria, you will be rejected. These decisions will be made in the spring term, assuming you have met the application deadlines set out above.

Once you have heard from all the universities on your list you will be required to select one of them, if all your offers are unconditional, or nominate a first and second (insurance) choice if the offers are conditional, or reject all of them. If you later satisfy the conditions set by your first choice you automatically gain a place there, or similarly your second choice if you fail to get into your first choice and meet the requirements for this offer. If you hold no offers by the end of the first round of UCAS, or if you have declined all the offers received, you are entitled to apply again through UCAS Extra, between the end of February and the end of June, for any courses with places available. You may apply for only one course at a time through UCAS Extra. If you fail to hold a place in August, following your exam results, you may enter the final cycle of UCAS, called Clearing, and try to obtain a place then.  UCAS will publish details of clearing vacancies on its website between mid-August and mid-September.