MSc Physiotherapy at QMU

Hey guys, my name is Josh and I am hoping to retrain as a physiotherapist. I applied for the pre-registration MSc at Queen Margaret University back in October, for the January start date. They also have a September start date which I planned to apply for separately. Apparently they have only just received funding for extra places on the course in January, which is why they advertised the vacancies so late. I was initially told that I would get reply within a couple of weeks, and I later got an email saying I'd been put on the waiting list, but then heard nothing for some time. Earlier in December I phoned up the admissions department, in the full expectation that I hadn't got a place, and expecting them to advise me to apply for September instead. I was told that they had actually decided to make me an offer in November but by some kind of oversight hadn't actually emailed me about it. They then emailed me my offer later that day.

So my dilemma is that my offer has come at much, much shorter notice than I expected and I'm not sure if I can accept or not. It will be massively, massively inconvenient for me to make a move up to Edinburgh at such short notice. I will be very difficult for me to find affordable accommodation at such short notice, particularly considering the Christmas period, and I also won't be able to secure a loan before the start of the course.

However, it's not possible for me to defer my offer, and I know these courses are competitive to get on to. If I make an application for September I have to go through the selection process again and obviously I won't be guaranteed a place. I asked the admissions team on the phone, and they said they thought I made a very strong application and they assessed me against lots of other candidates before making an offer. They said they would fully understand my reasons for not being able to accept an offer at such short notice, but that although I stand a good chance of getting an offer for the September entry, they can of course guarantee nothing as they don't yet know how strong the other applicants are.

So should I accept the short-notice offer I have (which is massively inconvenient for me personally), or take a chance on the next entry? Can anyone advise? Thanks!