Mercy's Guide to Switching University and Course

Especially if you applied to university really early, there's always a possibility that you'll change your mind of what you want to do and where you want to study. I was one of those people: I held a firm offer from UCL for Chemical Engineering with Southampton Chemical Engineering as my insurance but wanted to change. This is my guide to what to do if you change your mind like me.

1. Have a serious think - this is a big decision as it will affect your future so you need to be certain.

2a. If you want to apply to a different university you do not hold an offer from, you can release yourself into extra or clearing to change to your desired university and course. CHECK BEFORE YOU APPLY THAT THEY HAVE SPACES LEFT BY CALLING THE UNI INDIVIDUALLY. If you've already accepted offers, call UCAS as they are really helpful and friendly and will help you through the process.

2b. If you're like me and want to swap to one of the unis you hold an offer from, then cool - your life may be slightly easier depending on the uni. First, email or call your unis (both your current firm and the one you want to switch) and tell them what you want to do. Once you have done this (and gotten permission from your unis to swap - if they haven't done this then you cannot swap) call UCAS. You will need your ID number which can be found on your Hub and they can swap you over. If you are switching courses at a uni, the course you are switching too will need to be in extra (there may be exceptions to this but if it's not in extra or clearing then you are very unlikely to be accepted).

Remember that June/July/August is very busy for unis and UCAS so this process will take some time. I made the mistake of just emailing my unis so the process took over a month to do. If I had just called them originally then it would have been a lot quicker!

I successfully swapped my offers so that I have Mathematical Sciences at the University of Soton as my firm and ChemEng at UCL as my insurance (it is easiest to just switch your old firm to your insurance if you are swapping the positions of your unis).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Reply 1

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Just to point out that 2b is no longer correct. If
you have made your Firm and Insurance choices and want to swap them, or to one of your other declined offers, you should always call UCAS in the first instance.

It may not be necessary to involve the unis or get their specific permission at all.

Potentially saves you some calls :smile:

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

McGinger

18

And the other important thing to note is this :

'Higher grade requirement' does not mean 'better course' or that you will enjoy that course more or like being at that Uni.
The drop-out rate from those with Clearing places is high - that should tell you something important about 'reality' and 'disapointment'.

What Happens on Results Day - read it all - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/results/a-level/guide-to-a-level-results-day

Reply 3

PhantomMercy

OP

11

Original post by Admit-One

Just to point out that 2b is no longer correct. If
you have made your Firm and Insurance choices and want to swap them, or to one of your other declined offers, you should always call UCAS in the first instance.

It may not be necessary to involve the unis or get their specific permission at all.

Potentially saves you some calls :smile:

I only called to check to see if I could swap. It is true that some don't need permission - Soton is one of them but some will (eg UCL). I'm not sure if there is a list available somewhere as the person on UCAS said they had a list of universities that automatically give permission without having to get in contact with them - that would be interesting to see.

Reply 4

PhantomMercy

OP

11

Original post by McGinger

And the other important thing to note is this :

'Higher grade requirement' does not mean 'better course' or that you will enjoy that course more or like being at that Uni.
The drop-out rate from those with Clearing places is high - that should tell you something important about 'reality' and 'disapointment'.

What Happens on Results Day - read it all - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/results/a-level/guide-to-a-level-results-day

This is really important! I actually swapped to a course with lower grade requirements but that doesn't mean the course is worse and I'm actually even happier with it!

Reply 5

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by PhantomMercy

I only called to check to see if I could swap. It is true that some don't need permission - Soton is one of them but some will (eg UCL). I'm not sure if there is a list available somewhere as the person on UCAS said they had a list of universities that automatically give permission without having to get in contact with them - that would be interesting to see.

I think unis set their permissions at the beginning of each cycle, so it could change each year. But in a lot of cases it’s a lot easier than it used to be.

Reply 6

mylifeasci

9

hello, i don't know if this thread is still active.
i recently posted about wanting to switch my firm choice uni. i emailed them couple days ago and I've managed to get a reply. to which they said they've approved and will get into contact with UCAS and reply back.
what should I do now? I've applied for student finance. should I call student finance, to tell them about this?

Mercy's Guide to Switching University and Course

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