Cancelled offer

I don't know if this is the right place for my question. I applied for a place at Birkbeck but heard nothing until I received a letter from UCAs telling me that I had been made an offer but as I had not accepted it the offer had been withdrawn. I never received this offer and UCAS could not tell me when it was sent. They told me all I could do was reapply from the beginning and pay a fee. But I was probably too late. Is there an alternative? I'm a mature student and I don't know why I couldn't have applied directly to the university.

Reply 1

F1 fanatic

16

Original post by arcanesols

I don't know if this is the right place for my question. I applied for a place at Birkbeck but heard nothing until I received a letter from UCAs telling me that I had been made an offer but as I had not accepted it the offer had been withdrawn. I never received this offer and UCAS could not tell me when it was sent. They told me all I could do was reapply from the beginning and pay a fee. But I was probably too late. Is there an alternative? I'm a mature student and I don't know why I couldn't have applied directly to the university.

This sounds like a strange situation and it would be worth contacting Birkbeck directly to find out when (and if) they made you an offer. I'm assuming that you have applied to a single choice through UCAS and as a mature student are not interested in applying elsewhere? If the Birkbeck offer cannot be retrieved then Clearing is an option, although if you have made only 1 choice rather than 5 on your UCAS form you will need to pay a bit more money to UCAS to use it. That will pull you back into this years application cycle and let you apply anywhere that has places available (which may or may not include Birkbeck). As a mature applicant a direct application to Birkbeck may be possible but again you would need to speak to them to see if they would take you and whether they'd accept this route.

Failing all that, if you can't find anywhere this year then of course you can reapply next year.

Reply 2

arcanesols

OP

Thanks for the advice. I only applied to Birkbeck and Birkbeck is the only place I wanted to go to or could go to. Birkbeck accepted me, informed UCAS, but UCAS failed to inform me that I'd been accepted. The first and only time I heard from UCAS was when they told me they had withdrawn the offer because I hadn't accepted it immediately. My place has now been given to someone else. I could reapply next year but really can't be bothered if it means having to go through a quango like UCAS. UCAS weren't in the least bit apologetic when I spoke to them. That's just the way it is, they said. I suppose they are used to dealing with school-leavers who have no choice but to accept whatever is thrown at them.

Reply 3

monkyvirus

13

Original post by arcanesols

Thanks for the advice. I only applied to Birkbeck and Birkbeck is the only place I wanted to go to or could go to. Birkbeck accepted me, informed UCAS, but UCAS failed to inform me that I'd been accepted. The first and only time I heard from UCAS was when they told me they had withdrawn the offer because I hadn't accepted it immediately. My place has now been given to someone else. I could reapply next year but really can't be bothered if it means having to go through a quango like UCAS. UCAS weren't in the least bit apologetic when I spoke to them. That's just the way it is, they said. I suppose they are used to dealing with school-leavers who have no choice but to accept whatever is thrown at them.

Well that's just appalling! Was there nothing Birkbeck could do, is the course completely full?

Next year just apply straight to the uni, though if you're a doing a full-time undergraduate degree you have to use UCAS (I can only assume that's why you did it this year).

In that case, use UCAS again but call Birbeck once you've applied and explain what happened this year they may agree to contact you themselves if they make an offer. Failing that ask them when you should expect a decision and how long after that you need to accept. Make a couple of phone calls around the time you should expect a decision if an offer hasn't appeared on UCAS to double-check.

It's more hassle for you but if you want to do your studies you may just have to do it :frown:

Reply 4

jelly1000

21

Original post by arcanesols

Thanks for the advice. I only applied to Birkbeck and Birkbeck is the only place I wanted to go to or could go to. Birkbeck accepted me, informed UCAS, but UCAS failed to inform me that I'd been accepted. The first and only time I heard from UCAS was when they told me they had withdrawn the offer because I hadn't accepted it immediately. My place has now been given to someone else. I could reapply next year but really can't be bothered if it means having to go through a quango like UCAS. UCAS weren't in the least bit apologetic when I spoke to them. That's just the way it is, they said. I suppose they are used to dealing with school-leavers who have no choice but to accept whatever is thrown at them.

i assume then that track never updated to tell you your application was successful and that you didn't get an email saying so? for most people UCAS is really helpful and saves the hassle of having to create 5 different applications

Reply 5

arcanesols

OP

No, track wasn't updated and I didn't get an email. UCAS cancelled the offer and informed Birkbeck. Birkbeck had no say in the matter. I'm not sure UCAS provides much of a service but it does provide jobs for lots of people. It's just an extra layer of bureaucracy. I'll probably study at Open Uni. The whole process with them, from start to finish, takes 10 minutes. It's not as if university education is free anymore. I think for what you pay there should be a much better service.

Cancelled offer

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