Applying after 22 January? *Info Here!*

The deadline for equal consideration has been and gone – but this does not mean that you can’t still apply for uni for 2010. However, there are some additional points you need to consider, so as not to waste your choices.

First of all, there’s no rush to submit a late application. Late is late, whether the application goes in on 23 January or 29 June. As Unis will be processing the applications they did receive before the deadline, they may not know for a few weeks yet whether they can consider any more. So, though it may seem odd, it can be better, at this stage (late Jan) to wait for a while. By the middle of February unis will be notifying UCAS whether they will be in Extra and if so for which courses.

Secondly, though the Extra application route itself is open only to people who have used up their five choices and are not holding an offer, the Extra listings do provide for late applicants a guide (and it is only that) to which unis/courses are still accepting applications. You do not have to be eligible to use the Extra application route to be able to apply for these places. Until Extra opens, it is not possible to tell from the UCAS site which unis/courses will be in Extra, so if you do decide to apply before then, it is strongly recommended to contact each uni department you are interested in and check that they are still accepting applications. This advice also holds true after Extra has opened at the end of February, because the listings are sometimes out-of-date (or even wrong, especially in the very early days). This is a link to UCAS Search 2009 which still has the Extra listings - presumably as at June/July 2009. This is not foolproof - and the courses listed are what was on offer in 2009 and may not be the same for 2010 - but gives you some idea until Extra for 2010 starts up on 25 February.

Everyone – whether a Home/EU or an International candidate – can submit an application for immediate consideration up until 30 June. After that, all applications are held over until Clearing in mid August. In practice the January deadline for equal consideration applies to international students too; the only difference is that it may take longer for a uni to fill up the places they've allocated for international applicants than it does the ones allocated for the Home/EU people. [This is why, when it comes to Clearing, you may see "international applicants only" against published vacancies at some universities.] The student from the US applying to LSE, or to Durham for History, on 16 January (23 January in 2010) is wasting his/her time, but once you are beyond the top ten and/or highly competitive subjects like Economics/History/Law/English the prospects for consideration even at relatively highly ranked unis can be pretty good for Home/EU as well as International applicants. However, if in doubt, check.

All other aspects of the application process remain the same. You will need a good PS – the PS Help forum is still open though you may wait a little longer for a review than previously – and you will need your reference as before. The general advice in the How to Avoid Getting 5 Rejections thread applies to late applicants too.

See also Applying for 2010.