If UCL has 195 spaces for law, why are they giving out 500 offers according to data?

m_040106

10

According to last year?

Reply 1

cksiu

Universities Forum Helper

11

Every applicant can apply upto five unis so not all the 500 offer holders would firm or insure UCL. For those who firm UCL there would be some could not achieve the required grades. For the insured, some would goto their firm choice unis and some might miss their grades. So eventually there would only be a fraction of offer holders who could get into UCL. Only UCL knows the proportion and give offers accordingly. Of course UCL would under-provide a bit to avoid over-enrolment. It happened during COVID when A-Level exams were suspended and results were given by schools. There were "surges" in high grade students and some unis over-enrolled, Durham being the classic example.

In case the number of firmed and insured could not add up to the total vacancy, UCL would take up some near-missed.

I guess most unis would do the same.

All my wild guess.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

That seems like a sensible number of offers for a course of that stature.

Reply 3

m_040106

OP

10

Original post by Admit-One

That seems like a sensible number of offers for a course of that stature.

But what exactly happens if theoretically everyone confirms that they will take up the place and meets the grades?

Reply 4

PQ

PS Reviewer

21

Original post by m_040106

But what exactly happens if theoretically everyone confirms that they will take up the place and meets the grades?

Then they’d have to accept all those applicants.
They would know in June if they had 500 instead of 250 acceptances. That gives them time to put in place additional staff and timetable adjustments to accommodate additional students.
It’s very unlikely that all applicants would meet their offer conditions.
Occasionally where this has happened universities have offered a financial incentive to applicants willing to defer their place to reduce the pressure.

Reply 5

m_040106

OP

10

Original post by PQ

Then they’d have to accept all those applicants.
They would know in June if they had 500 instead of 250 acceptances. That gives them time to put in place additional staff and timetable adjustments to accommodate additional students.
It’s very unlikely that all applicants would meet their offer conditions.
Occasionally where this has happened universities have offered a financial incentive to applicants willing to defer their place to reduce the pressure.

So, on the flip side of this, if prestigious universities like Oxbridge had very few applicants in one year, would they lower their standards and admit people they would otherwise not have admitted or who they didn’t really want to admit because they weren’t strong enough?

Reply 6

cactus11235813

21

Original post by m_040106

So, on the flip side of this, if prestigious universities like Oxbridge had very few applicants in one year, would they lower their standards and admit people they would otherwise not have admitted or who they didn’t really want to admit because they weren’t strong enough?

For some courses, yes, most likely, depending on how many could feasibly be good enough (probably a good number, given how competitive it is to get in). Is that likely? No.

Edit: also, offers are done on a college basis and applicants apply to a college, so it is possible (and likely) that some years a course with e.g. 3 people on average might have 1/2, depending on how strong those applicants are compared to other subjects (who might have more). Numbers vary for smaller courses, and for larger ones, there are so many more qualified people than those on the course regardless.

(edited 2 months ago)

If UCL has 195 spaces for law, why are they giving out 500 offers according to data?

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