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UCAS 2023: When do you need to accept your university offer by?
30/05/2023•13 minute read
By this time in the year, most of the students applying to the UK will have received their offer letters. Soon it will be time to make your decisions and start preparing for the journey to university! As the deadline for accepting university places approaches, we tell you everything you need to know about UCAS offers. We answer all your questions and explain the different types of replies you can provide and when you need to submit these by. Make sure you don’t miss any important steps!
When is the UCAS deadline for accepting offers?
Your deadline for acceptance depends on when you submitted your application.
- If you receive your last decision on or before 18 May 2023, your reply date is 8 June 2023 (except if you're using Extra to find a place).
- If you receive your last decision on or before 12 July 2023, your reply date is 17 July 2023 (including Extra choices).
Make sure you check your personal profile to figure out what your deadline is!
How do you accept an offer on UCAS?
Once a university has made an offer to your for a spot, you will see it on your UCAS profile. For each offer you have three reply options:
1. Firm acceptance – your first choice
If it's an unconditional offer, the place is yours! So that course provider will expect you as their student. Or if it's conditional, the place is yours if you meet the offer conditions. So just in case you don't, you can pick a second offer as a backup – your insurance acceptance.
Learn more about conditional and unconditional offers here.
2. Insurance acceptance – the back-up choice to a conditional firm acceptance
If you're choosing an insurance, go for something with lower offer conditions, but make sure it's somewhere you'd still be happy to go to though. Remember, you can't choose between your firm and insurance when you get your results, so make sure you're happy with which is your firm and which is your insurance before you reply.
3. Decline – you'll need to decline any other offers you get
Do you have to reply to all your offers at the same time?
Yes, you have to reply to all your offers at the same time.
What if I don’t want to wait for all the offers?
If you want to, you can permanently withdraw from any outstanding choices to reply to offers you’ve already received. If you decide to withdraw a choice, it will not be available to you later and the university or college will be informed you no longer wish to be considered for the course. We strongly recommend you wait for all your decisions before accepting an offer.
Can you change your replies?
You may change your replies once within fourteen days of initially making them. To do this, give UCAS a call with your Personal ID and an adviser will help you.
What if I don’t receive any offers?
If you are denied admission to all five choices, UCAS offers an Extra service where you can add one more choice to be considered. If you included five choices on your application, have received decisions from all five, and weren’t accepted, or if you declined the offers you received, you will be able to use Extra.
What is UCAS Clearing?
Clearing is how unis and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses. From 5 July – 17 October 2023, you can apply for a course using Clearing if you’re not already holding an offer from a university or college, and the course still has places.
In order to encourage students and provide choices, from autumn 2023, students will be able to explore apprenticeship opportunities alongside undergraduate courses on UCAS, allowing them to discover and decide between their options in the same place for the first time.
Key UCAS Dates for 2023
| Date | Milestone | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2022 | UCAS opens | UCAS Undergraduate application opens for 2023 entry |
| 6 September 2022 | Applications open | Applicants can pay and send their applications to UCAS, and universities and colleges can start making decisions on applications. |
| 15 October 2022 | Early Entry Deadline | Entry deadline for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and most dentistry, medicine or veterinary science applications. |
| 25 January 2023 | Entry Deadline | The entry deadline for all other undergraduate courses. Internal deadlines change based on different schools or colleges. |
| 23 February 2023 | UCAS Extra opens | UCAS Extra opens for students who have not gained an offer from any of their five chosen universities. This allows the students to add an extra choice one at a time until an offer has been made. |
| June 2023 | University choice deadline | The deadline to confirm the first and insurance university from the offers that have been made. A later deadline may apply if you are still awaiting a decision from a university. |
| 30 June 2023 | UCAS Extra closes | Final date to apply in Extra for 2022. After this date, all applications must be made through Clearing. |
| July 2023 | UCAS Clearing | Clearing opens - students can begin researching available universities and courses prior to knowing if an offer has been confirmed. |
| August 2023 | A Level results | A Level results are released - although some universities may have confirmed or denied their place prior to this. |
| 21 September 2023 | Final deadline | The final deadline for applications to 2023 courses. |
| 17 October 2023 | Clearing deadline | The deadline for adding Clearing choices. |
Note: Certain deadlines change based on specific colleges. Make sure to check your choice so you don’t miss any important dates!
Final Thoughts
Applying to university is a daunting task, and it is important to be organised, so you don’t miss any important dates or requirements for submission. Hopefully, this blog has given you some insights into how to prepare for successful admission. If you have any additional questions regarding the UCAS or applying to UK universities feel free to contact one of our expert admission advisors below!
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