Bath Accommodation application date opening / UCAS deadline for uni's to reply by?

Parent2023

I found this with my Daughter a couple of years ago that there seems to be a total disconnect from when Uni's open their applications for accommodation v's the UCAS deadline for universities to give you your application outcome :dontknow:

The result of which for my Daughter was that she got rejected from one option on the final UCAS deadline day and then missed out on all preferred options at the Uni she elected after that (as they had opened up applications a couple of weeks earlier). Hers was a happy ending in that she met the best friends ever where she ended up, but really it's kind of stressful to be back in this position a couple of years later with my Son.

My son has one sad rejection under his belt and 3 great offers on the table with one final choice pending.

Application for accommodation at Bath opens on 1st May if you are firming them but universities still have until I think 14th May to offer/reject applicants.

why is there this disconnect??

Bath is massively high as a choice for my son but with one choice still o/s he's so confused what to do when the accommodation for Bath opens up shortly. The only way for him to then make an application for this accommodation is to firm and insure his choices, but he really wanted to know where he stood with ALL choices before doing so :dontknow:

which I totally get. Chances are if his final option makes him an offer it's still Bath that will be his final decision, but he'd just like to know what might have been. He doesn't really want to 'reject' his final choice in order to go ahead and firm/insure from the remaining.

Yet, this seems to be the only way to proceed if he wants to apply on May 1st for accommodation :dontknow:

if he waits until May 14th to do his application for accommodation at Bath, I've read it's NOT 'first come first served' but i'm having a lack of faith in this being the case if i'm really honest. We've spent ages researching the Bath accommodation and i know i'd really like him to be in the options we've looked at. So if there is a chance behind the scenes it IS a little first come/first served.... he could be stuffed :dontknow:

Anyone experience of this scenario? I dont understand why this disconnect exists whatsoever other than to force your hand in some instances.

Reply 1

University of Bath

Official Rep

Hi there!

Firstly, huge congrats to your son for his offer, this is great news and its lovely to hear he's considering firming Bath. You are correct that in theory unis have until 14th May to give people their decisions but here at Bath we aim to get everyone's decisions to them by the end of April, and many other unis will be the same.

It is 100% true that our accommodation allocation procedure is not first-come-first-served, for this very reason: people get their offers at different times, which is beyond their control, and no one should be put at an automatic disadvantage because of it. How the allocation works is a computer algorithm which works out the way to get as many people as possible into one of their choices. When the person applied, is not taken into account as long as you firm Bath and apply before the closing deadline.

In short, I'd encourage you not to worry - you are definitely not stuffed! 🙂 Just make sure that if you want to firm Bath that you apply before 1st July 2025 (the closing date) then you will have as much chance as everyone else at getting one of your choices 🙂

I hope this helps but if you have any more questions please post away!

Holly
University of Bath

Reply 2

Parent2023

Original post

by University of Bath

Hi there!
Firstly, huge congrats to your son for his offer, this is great news and its lovely to hear he's considering firming Bath. You are correct that in theory unis have until 14th May to give people their decisions but here at Bath we aim to get everyone's decisions to them by the end of April, and many other unis will be the same.
It is 100% true that our accommodation allocation procedure is not first-come-first-served, for this very reason: people get their offers at different times, which is beyond their control, and no one should be put at an automatic disadvantage because of it. How the allocation works is a computer algorithm which works out the way to get as many people as possible into one of their choices. When the person applied, is not taken into account as long as you firm Bath and apply before the closing deadline.
In short, I'd encourage you not to worry - you are definitely not stuffed! 🙂 Just make sure that if you want to firm Bath that you apply before 1st July 2025 (the closing date) then you will have as much chance as everyone else at getting one of your choices 🙂
I hope this helps but if you have any more questions please post away!
Holly
University of Bath

Really appreciate this reply Holly, very reassuring to read. My Daughter had the opposite experience a couple of years ago (not Bath) whilst waiting her last choice to respond, so I'm slightly nervous when it comes to this 🙂 I do appreciate every university is different but i felt slightly burnt by that experience last time as there was barely anything left for her to apply for from her accommodation preferences by the time UCAS deadline had been met!