At 6pm on the 15th January every year, secondary-school and college teachers up and down the land heave a collective sigh of relief. Why? Because at that exact moment the infamous UCAS 15th January deadline is reached, and it means the amount of time they have to spend on UCAS applications tails off dramatically. So life is now a little easier for your teachers. But what if you missed the UCAS deadline? Does this mean that you are now effectively locked out of the uni world until the autumn of 2015?
Well, no, not really, even if it does mean that your options in terms of courses and institutions is now a bit more restricted. Allow us to explain the implications of the 15th January cut-off point to those of you who had been hoping to go to university later this year but missed the UCAS deadline.
The 15th January deadline is often seen as the big, final deadline, with the 15th October one being for Oxbridge applicants and medics, vets and dentists only. This is because the 15th January deadline applies to all courses and universities, barring a few more niche art and design courses.
However, this 15th January deadline does not represent anything like a complete end to the UCAS application process, meaning that if you missed the UCAS deadline you still have plenty of chances to apply to go to university this year. The deadline is in many ways more of a cut off point for universities, because all this date amounts to is the point after which they are no longer obliged to consider new applications.
In other words, missing the 15th January deadline just means that there is no guarantee that the universities you’re applying to will consider your application, and nothing more. Now, for some courses that have received thousands upon thousands of applications already, this may mean that applications will no longer be considered if the admissions tutors feel they’ve got enough students with the expected grades and skills to choose from.
But this isn’t necessarily a large group of courses. Since the introduction of higher tuition fees a few years ago, there have been fewer applications for places at university. And this means that even the best universities will still be willing to consider applications for some of their courses. So even if you missed the UCAS deadline, there’s still a good chance that your application will be considered.
Furthermore, by applying in the next few months, you’ll also be eligible for UCAS Extra, a service through which students are able to resubmit their applications to universities that participate in the initiative. So even if your initial application didn’t get the desired results, you’ll be able to have a second go at getting a place on a course that takes your fancy. Looking even further forward, you’ll also be eligible to apply to universities through clearing. And if recent clearing sessions are anything to go by, there’ll be plenty of great courses from the top universities on offer then, too.
So if you missed the UCAS deadline, don’t despair! There’s still every chance that you’ll be heading off to uni come September if you get your act together and submit your application soon.