When do universities confirm your place?

When do universities confirm your place?

For 2024, universities will confirm your place on Results Day, today, Thursday 15th August. This information will be available on your UCAS Hub from 08:15 am. For those taking Scottish Highers, your results are released on Tuesday, August 6th.

If you don’t see your confirmation straight away, don’t panic! It can take up to 24 hours for the university to confirm your place. If you have your A-Level results, and you haven’t met the grade requirements for your course, it’s best to contact the university directly to see if they’re still considering your application.

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When do universities get my A-Level results?

They’ll get your results a few days before you do. This means your offers will be updated on your UCAS Hub early in the morning of the 15th of August.

What does it mean when your place is confirmed on UCAS?

This means you did it! You’ve been accepted at the university you’ve applied to!

The next steps will depend on the university or college you’ve applied to. They will send you the next steps at some point, however, if you haven’t heard back for a while, you should contact them to find out what happens next.

How long does it take to get your UCAS offers?

Most students will already have offers from universities before Results Day. For those with conditional offers, Results Day is the day you’ll find out whether you’ve met the grades set out in your offer.

If you don’t currently hold an offer, then it depends on when you applied. If you applied after the UCAS deadline, then you’ll be placed into Clearing. Most universities are working through a backlog and will get to your application when they can.

Typically, universities work through their backlog by the date you applied, so you should hear back from universities on or before the following dates:

• 16th May 2024: If your application was made by the 31st January 2024 deadline.
• 17th July 2024: If your application is made on or before 30th June 2024.
• Towards the end of October: If you applied through Clearing.

When do universities confirm places for students with unconditional offers?

Unconditional offers can arrive before Results Day, as the offers don’t depend on the grades you get.

Remember though, accepting an unconditional offer means that you can’t choose your insurance offer, and you can’t enter Clearing.

When is the latest a university will reply to me, if I applied after the deadline?

The date you applied can impact when you hear back from them, especially if they have a backlog.

That doesn’t mean you can’t chase them if you need an update. If you still haven’t heard anything after a few days, then you can call them or UCAS and find out what’s going on.

What do I do now I’ve got my offers?

When you’ve got your offers on the table, the choice is yours! You will need to make a firm choice and an insurance choice based on the offers you receive.

You may find that your first-choice university doesn’t make you an offer. Don’t worry if this is the case. If other universities or colleges have made you offers, pick the best one from the offers made, or you may decide to go for other options, be it retaking exams or going on a gap year.

Why hasn’t my place been confirmed yet?

You’re most likely in a queue, and the university will get to your application as soon as they can. Given how hectic Results Day is, the sheer volume of traffic from students to the UCAS website has been known to crash the site temporarily, so you might not receive your offer until activity dies down a bit!

If you're struggling to access your results on Results Day, you can contact either UCAS or the university or college you applied to. If you hold a conditional offer and you’ve met or exceeded the requirements, you’ll likely have been accepted. Check back in a few hours or the next day to see if things have changed.

What if I’m on holiday when places are confirmed?

Make sure you’re contactable on Results Day. Try to avoid booking holidays for this day if you can. If your holiday is already booked or can’t be moved, then make sure all the details on your UCAS Hub are up-to-date and are completely correct.

If you are on holiday, you can always elect someone to access your UCAS Hub while you’re away, such as a parent or guardian. You can also speak to UCAS and give them access to your hub - that way, your elected UCAS representative can collect your grades from your school or college if given a completed permission slip.

What should I do if I haven’t heard back from any university?

If you haven’t heard back, speak to UCAS as they can give you an idea of how long it’ll take to hear back from the university or college.

You can also speak to the universities or colleges you’ve applied to directly, as you may get a quicker reply!

What if I don’t get the grades I need?

There are plenty of options still open to you. Your first port of call should be the university itself. If you ask the university to reconsider your application, you could save yourself a lot of time. The university might decide that if you’re only a few marks off the required grade, there’s still a place for you. If there isn’t, there are still loads of options for you!

Retaking your exams is an option. This is where you’ll sit your exams again and then re-apply next year with your new grades. Lots of students do this especially if there’s a university you have your heart set on.

The most common route for students is to apply through Clearing. Clearing is a process that allows students who have achieved different grades (better or worse) than predicted to choose a different course. You can also use Clearing Plus, an additional service where UCAS finds unfilled Clearing courses and matches them with your needs.

Some students decide they want to take a break entirely. Taking a gap year to go and explore the world, refresh, or even try new work experiences abroad is an excellent option and gives you plenty of time to get ready for a fresh application in a year’s time!