Cambridge Adjustment- Am I eligible?

If you didn't get told you were eligible then you are almost certainly not.

This is the criteria - if you think you meet it and therefore there was an error, then you should contact the college. https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/adjustment

EDIT: also if you've already done your A-Levels you can't be eligible either.

UCAS Adjustment (which Cambridge Adjustment is part of) is only open to people who are able to exceed at least one of the conditions of their firm offer. If your firm offer is conditional on academic grounds, then you may be eligible, but because you are post-A Level, it is quite likely that your offers will be unconditional and therefore you will not be eligible.

In order to be eligible, you must meet Widening Participation criteria. These are listed here. briefly, if you have not been in Local Authority Care, been eligible for Free School Meals or meet 3/5 other listed criteria (one of which is attending a state school), then you will not be eligible on these grounds.

I would recommend you check your home postcode at the time you applied here and here. The first is POLAR (Participation of Local Areas - progression of people in your postcode to Higher Education) and the second is IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation, which is a measure of deprivation which combines lots of factors). If you do not meet either of these, it is quite unlikely you will be eligible, as these are 2 of the remaining 4 listed Widening Participation criteria.

UCAS Adjustment (which Cambridge Adjustment is part of) is only open to people who are able to exceed at least one of the conditions of their firm offer. If your firm offer is conditional on academic grounds, then you may be eligible, but because you are post-A Level, it is quite likely that your offers will be unconditional and therefore you will not be eligible.

In order to be eligible, you must meet Widening Participation criteria. These are listed here. briefly, if you have not been in Local Authority Care, been eligible for Free School Meals or meet 3/5 other listed criteria (one of which is attending a state school), then you will not be eligible on these grounds.

I would recommend you check your home postcode at the time you applied here and here. The first is POLAR (Participation of Local Areas - progression of people in your postcode to Higher Education) and the second is IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation, which is a measure of deprivation which combines lots of factors). If you do not meet either of these, it is quite unlikely you will be eligible, as these are 2 of the remaining 4 listed Widening Participation criteria.

Does this process apply to mature applicants as well?

I have two questions:

1. How does this process affect mature applicants? Are they assess differently?
2. The website you’ve given states that I live in area described as “Quintile 4” - what does this mean?

UCAS Adjustment (which Cambridge Adjustment is part of) is only open to people who are able to exceed at least one of the conditions of their firm offer. If your firm offer is conditional on academic grounds, then you may be eligible, but because you are post-A Level, it is quite likely that your offers will be unconditional and therefore you will not be eligible.

In order to be eligible, you must meet Widening Participation criteria. These are listed here. briefly, if you have not been in Local Authority Care, been eligible for Free School Meals or meet 3/5 other listed criteria (one of which is attending a state school), then you will not be eligible on these grounds.

I would recommend you check your home postcode at the time you applied here and here. The first is POLAR (Participation of Local Areas - progression of people in your postcode to Higher Education) and the second is IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation, which is a measure of deprivation which combines lots of factors). If you do not meet either of these, it is quite unlikely you will be eligible, as these are 2 of the remaining 4 listed Widening Participation criteria.

Is it true that this process doesn’t apply to post-qualification applicants (I.e. applying with achieved grades)?

If your offers are unconditional because you have your grades, then I'm afraid you are not eligible for Adjustment. This isn't just for Cambridge, but applies to all of Adjustment.

Why is Cambridge so inflexible about this? From UCAS' point of view, Adjustment is just a rebranded version of Clearing, so there's nothing stopping the university from considering applicants in this position via the same process, but accepting them via Clearing instead of Adjustment. Is it purely an 'image' thing, i.e. the university not wanting to be seen accepting people via Clearing? If so that's a shame

I'm afraid that the rules on eligibility for Adjustment are set by UCAS. You cannot be eligible for Adjustment anywhere with achieved grades.

There are differences between applicants applying with achieved grades and with predicted grades. If you are applying with achieved grades, then nothing is added to your application between the decision being made in December/January and going to university. For applicants applying with predicted grades, their A Level results do add something new to their application. To permit students with achieved grades to be reconsidered would be to essentially reconsider an identical application and I suspect would lead to the same outcome. I don't think it would be fair to give these students what would most likely be false hope. We recognise that this year is a bit different, with some applicants sitting exams in the autumn, so it will depend whether an individual's firm choice at UCAS is conditional or unconditional when they choose their firm and insurance.

There are two other crucial differences between Adjustment and Clearing. Clearing costs an extra fee to use, which Adjustment doesn't. But more importantly, Clearing is for people who do not hold a firm offer or have declined theirs. Adjustment allows you to browse and apply for places without losing your firm choice. Again, this isn't a Cambridge rule, it's one set by UCAS which applies to all universities.

What would be the case if one applies for a senior status course (affiliated status) having already completed their first degree; has only applied to Cambridge (in the March application round); and has subsequently been rejected?