Late Uni application

Can anyone give me advice for hitting the UCAS deadline for 2024? I have been unsure about applying but have finally decided this is what I want but I know I only have a week before the deadline! I left Sixth form in the summer and therefore don’t have support and am not sure what I’m doing other than I’d like to do Linguistics and ideally get a Choral scholarship. Any tips greatly appreciated

Reply 1

Scotland Yard

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

At this point, it's probably better to just apply in the next admissions cycle. You will not be able to mount an application in a week. Your sixth form will probably be happy to help you, but they'll need to provide a reference for you and they probably won't be able to do it before the deadline. You also need to write a personal statement, which is something that most people take a fair bit of time (definitely a bit more than a week) to do and not something you want to rush. You will also want to decide where you want to go and realistically, you won't be able to make an informed decision with such little time to research places.

You could try to mount an application anyway and accept you'll be applying out of time, although you should note that many places will automatically reject you. UCAS Extra and Clearing would be an option (these are the UCAS systems for applicants applying out of time or because they missed out on their offers) but your options there would be very limited, so in my opinion it's best to apply in the next admissions cycle (which should open at some point in September 2024 and close in January 2025), as to not limit your options and give you plenty of time to mount a decent application :smile:

Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

The fastest way to apply this year would be independently (not via your old college’s buzzword) and without a reference (which is itself a bit risky).

In all honesty I would either apply next cycle, or post-deadline this year (accepting that some courses may have closed or otherwise won’t consider you). There’s really no point rushing an application in before Jan 31st. You won’t be able to research unis and courses and craft a decent personal statement in time. This is especially true if you’re also hoping to get a scholarship.