My school forgot to register me for the MAT

Hi everyone.

So I'm currently in Y13, and because of that I'm in the university application process. On the 15th I applied to Oxford, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds and Exeter for Computer Science. Now for Oxford, you have to sit the MAT paper, and the deadline to signup was the 15th. It turns out the school forgot/messed up the process, and now Oxford wont let me sit the MAT and can't accept 'test centre failure' as an excuse as to why I wasn't signed up before the deadline. Even though the chances of getting in were slim, I'm extremely gutted I didn't even have a chance, especially since it was all out my control.

Now, luckily because I applied less than 14 days ago, I can substitute it for another uni. I was thinking Imperial, UCL or Kings. Durham was up there, but it seems to far away (I'm from London), and doesn't seem like a school I'll really enjoy. Warwick is too close to Coventry/Birmingham and looks boring.

Please could anyone help me narrow down my choices. Imperial is obviously the best, but also hardest to get into. Please let me know any other potential good uni's I've missed. I've also been thinking about switching Exeter, but they've already given me an offer. Does this mean it's too late even though it hasn't been 14 days?

For context, my predicted grades are A*A*A in Maths, Physics and Further Maths, and my GCSE grades were 999988755 and a distinction in BTEC Engineering. Although, I think I will actually get A*AA/AAA - AAB.

Hey first of all sorry that you had to go through all of this messiness! Good luck for everything else!
I am applying for comp sci too and IMO you can substitue Oxford for Imperial . I didnt apply to durham for similar reasons to yours and also i think its bachelor course was for 4 years while other universities offer a masters in 4 yrs.
Since UCL is also a good once i guess you can substitute that for exeter or oxford...
No i dont think its too late for you to change your choices.

Have you written to the admissions team at oxford directly explaining your situation? Maybe they might consider it?

Hey first of all sorry that you had to go through all of this messiness! Good luck for everything else!
I am applying for comp sci too and IMO you can substitue Oxford for Imperial . I didnt apply to durham for similar reasons to yours and also i think its bachelor course was for 4 years while other universities offer a masters in 4 yrs.
Since UCL is also a good once i guess you can substitute that for exeter or oxford...
No i dont think its too late for you to change your choices.

Have you written to the admissions team at oxford directly explaining your situation? Maybe they might consider it?

I agree that it is very unfortunate for them but the exam is in a few days so at this point I think its too late to write oxford and ask, maybe if it was a week or two ago he/she would have been able too