Ucas university application deadlines: what you need to do and when

Applying to start university in 2024? Here's our guide to keeping ahead of schedule.

In this article you'll find key dates for applicants who plan to start uni in autumn 2024.

Check through to find the deadlines that are relevant to your application, along with links to helpful resources on The Student Room and The Uni Guide.

For most university courses, the main application deadline is in late January.

But your deadline is months earlier if you're applying for a place at either University of Oxford or University of Cambridge, or for a place on most medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine/science courses.

Make sure you let your teachers know well in advance. They will need to prepare your reference earlier, so give them plenty of time.

On The Uni Guide you'll find informative articles on applying to Oxbridge and applying for a medicine degree.

For most universities and most courses, this is the deadline you need to know.

The absolute final deadline is 6pm on this date, but you'll need to have everything organised well before this date. 

Read The Uni Guide's explainer on applying for university, how to write an great personal statement and how to write your university application. 

If you've used all five choices on your Ucas application and have been unsuccessful in all of them (or have declined any offers that were made) you can now apply through Ucas Extra.

This enables you to add another choice to your application, and the service remains open through to 4 July 2024.

On The Uni Guide, we have this explainer on Ucas Extra. 

For applications submitted by 31 January, this is the deadline for universities to respond.

If you've not received any offers, you'll still be able to apply through Ucas Extra.

Once you've received your offers, there is a deadline by which time you must reply. Your deadline will depend on when you receive decisions. These are the 2024 dates:

• 6 June 2024. If you receive all offers by 16 May, you need to reply to any offers by this date.
• 24 July 2024. Final deadline to reply if you have received all offers by 17 July.

Take your time when deciding, and think carefully about your firm and insurance choice universities.

Take a look at The Uni Guide's in-depth explanations of making your first and insurance choices, what to do if you don't get an offer from your first choice university and how long it takes for universities to reply to your application. 

If it gets to summertime and you've only just decided you want to go to university, it's not too late. You can still apply through Clearing. 

Any application made after 30 June goes automatically into Clearing.

Find lots of info about Clearing in our guide to Clearing and on The Uni Guide's Clearing and results day hub.

It's on this date when universities will start releasing course spaces into Clearing. You'll now be able to search for Clearing opportunities through Ucas.

More spaces will be added over the summer, in particular on A-level results day.

You're only able to apply for a Clearing space once you have your exam results in hand.

A-level students find out their results on this date, as do many Btec students.

If you're holding a firm university offer, your place could be confirmed on this date (assuming your results are good enough for the entry requirements).

This article on The Uni Guide explains what to expect on A-level results day. And this article contains a decision maker that can guide you through how A-level results day could pan out.

Ucas has confirmed on its website that Monday 21 October 2024 is the last day you can add a Clearing choice to your application for 2024 university entry.