50 questions frequently asked AFTER applying

1. Have you received my application?

If you applied electronically, either you or your school will have received acknowledgement in that way.

If you applied on a paper form and you enclosed a stamped addressed acknowledgement card with your application, we will return it to you.

If you need to contact our Customer Service Unit, the number is 0870 1122211.

2. One of the universities or colleges on my welcome letter from you is wrong. What shall I do?

Contact our Customer Service Unit immediately for advice on 0870 1122211. Within 14 days of the date on the letter, we can correct it. After that, our advice will depend on the nature of the error.

3. One of the course or campus codes on my welcome letter is wrong. What can I do?

Contact the university or college concerned direct quoting your UCAS Personal ID/application number. We have sent them your application and they can, if they agree, change course or campus details. When they do so, they will automatically tell us.

4. How can I find my UCAS Personal ID/application number?

They are printed at the top of any letters from us. Universities and colleges sometimes give it other names, but these are the numbers to quote.

If you cannot find them, contact our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211, where we will ask you a couple of security questions before providing the numbers.

5. I have forgotten my Track Username and Password. What can I do?

We print your Track Username on some of the letters we send you, such as the Welcome and the Replying to Offers letters. You can find out your username and password by clicking on 'lost password' on the Apply registration screen and answering your security question correctly.

6. I have never received my Track password. Can I have one?

If you applied online, your Track password is the same as the password you used to make your application. If you applied on a paper form, you need to call our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211 to find out your Track password.

7. What do I do if my exam details have changed?

If there are changes to an examination's details and you have entered the result for this examination on your application, you should write to all your chosen universities and colleges to inform them of any changes.

If there are changes to an examination's details and you have not entered the result for this examination on your application, you should write to us and all your chosen universities and colleges. When you write to UCAS, you should send your letter to The Coordinator, EBL, UCAS, PO Box 28, Cheltenham, Glos, GL52 3LZ.

8. How can I cancel my application and request a refund?

You can cancel your application and receive a refund for for 14 days from the date on your Welcome letter. Return the Cancel slip in Advice for Applicants or call our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211.

After 14 days, we cannot offer a refund, but you can withdraw your application using Track. If you do this, however, you would not be able to send us another application in the same application cycle.

9. What does unsuccessful mean?

If either a letter or the Track service informs you that your application has been unsuccessful, it means that the university or college concerned has decided not to offer you a place.

10. When I look at Track, an offer I received direct from a university or college is not shown. What shall I do?

This means your university or college has not told us about your offer. As soon as we receive it you will be able to see it on Track. If two or three weeks have passed since you were told of the offer, you should contact the university or college direct to discuss it.

11. The conditions in my offer do not make sense to me. What can I do?

Please contact the university or college concerned direct. Offers can be corrected or clarified.

12. Why does my conditional offer ask for qualifications I already hold?

Please contact the university or college concerned direct. Offers can be corrected.

13. What is the UCAS Tariff and how do I work out my UCAS points?

Full details of our Tariff and a Tariff Calculator are on this site.

14. What is my AS12 letter? I am being asked for a copy of it by my LEA or bank.

Your AS12 Confirmation letter is sent when you have been fully accepted by a university or college.

If you have lost the letter, contact us on 0870 1122211.

If you have already started at a university or college, we will not be able to reissue this letter for you.

15. What is an IELTS test?

IELTS is a test taken by people whose first language is not English to prove their command of the language. Universities and colleges may ask international students to take this test as part of the conditions of their offer. You can find out where these courses are held from the International English Language Testing System website.

16. What is Extra?

It is available to applicants who have used all six choices in UCAS and have either been unsuccessful at all of them, or have declined all offers they received. Extra is a way of making a further choice. It works by applicants referring their own application to the course and university or college of their choice online via Track. The Extra service operates from 13 March to 6 July 2007.

17. What is meant by Clearing?

Clearing is simply the last part of the UCAS application system. Applicants who are not holding a place towards the end of the application cycle look at the vacancy listings on the Course Search. They then contact the universities or colleges direct. If, after some discussion, the university or college wishes to accept the applicant, they will ask for a Clearing Passport Number. This is shown on the Track screen for applicants who are eligible for Clearing.

Only people who have completed a 2007 UCAS application are eligible for Clearing in 2007.

18. How can I find out how my application is progressing?

You will need your application number, Track username and Track password from your Welcome letter to access up-to-date information via Track. We also send you letters when we receive replies to your application from universities and colleges. You can opt for some of these to be sent to you by email if you want.

19. I want to reply to my offers, but how do I do it?

If you do not know how to reply to your offers, it probably means you are not yet in a position to do so.

You do not need to reply to your offers (unless they are Route B Art and Design) until you have received decisions from all your universities or colleges. When they have all sent us their decisions on your application, we automatically ask you to reply to offers.

If you are no longer interested in receiving offers from any of your chosen universities or colleges that have not provided their decisions, you may cancel your applications to these institutions on Track or by calling our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211. We will then send you a letter asking you to reply to the offers you have already received.

It may sound obvious, but check you have received the offers you wish to accept from us and not direct from the university or college before doing this.

20. A university or college says it has sent me an offer through UCAS but I have not received it. What should I do?

Check your position on Track.

If no offer is shown, then we have not received it yet. Contact your university or college direct if you have allowed them a reasonable amount of time to notify us.

If a decision is shown on Track and you have not received it yet, check whether it has had sufficient time to reach you. If you think you should have received it, call our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211.

If you have asked us to email replies to you, you do not also receive a letter.

21. What do I have to do now that I have changed my postal address, email or phone number?

You must record any changes to your postal address, email address or phone number using Track or by calling our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211. We will then send your new details to all your chosen universities and colleges. If you are expecting correspondence from a particular university or college, you may wish to contact them direct to give them your new details.

Our Customer Service Unit will only be able to change your details, if you can quote your Personal ID/application number.

22. The decision or offer in my letter from UCAS differs from what the university or college told me direct. What shall I do?

The information we send you actually comes to us from universities or colleges. If a university or college has sent out two pieces of information which do not agree, then you should contact them direct, not us. If they need to amend the UCAS record, your university or college will be able to do so.

23. I want to reply to my offers online, but there is no reply button on Track.

The reply button will only appear on Track when you have received decisions from all the universities and colleges to which you have applied.

If you have not received decisions from all your choices, but wish to accept an offer, please see the answer to question 19.

If your record on Track shows decisions from all your choices of university or college, but there is no reply button, check when we received the last decision. If one decision is very recent, your reply button should appear soon.

If you have received decisions from all your choices, there is no reply button on Track and none of your decisions is very recent, please call our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211.

24. I want to change the year of entry I put on my application. What do I do?

If you now want to defer your entry to 2008, you need to contact your universities and colleges direct. If they agree, they will tell us and we will send you a letter to confirm the entry date.

25. I applied for medicine and have been turned down on all choices. What can I do?

If you applied for medicine only and have been turned down, you have a decision to make. Is Medicine all you want? You can add two non-medical choices to your application.

Very few medicine places become available in either Extra or Clearing.

If you do not obtain a place on a medicine course in this application cycle, you could consider taking a 'gap' year and reapplying in the next application cycle.

If you are currently studying for examinations, the most important thing is that you obtain the best possible results. Even though you have not been offered a place yet, you should not allow this to affect your examination performance. There are many other applicants in the same situation.

26. Can I change my choices of university and college now that my application has been processed by you?

You can change your choices for 14 days from the date on your Welcome letter. After that, you can only make choice changes on very specific grounds, like exceptional hardship or if your chosen course is no longer running. To change a choice on hardship grounds, we have to receive a letter of support from the person who wrote your reference, detailing both the change you want and the grounds for it.

If you have applied to a university or college for one course and you want the same institution to consider you for a different course, you will probably be able to change your choice of course by contacting the university or college direct. In this situation, you do not need to contact UCAS.

27. I did not use all my six choices. Can I use the others now?

You can add further choices to your application using Track or by telephoning our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211 with all the relevant details (including Personal ID/application number). You can do this up to 30 June (12 June for Route B courses) as long as you have not replied to any offers you received.

If you only had a single choice and paid a £5 application fee, you will also have to pay a further £10.

28. My application has been unsuccessful. Can you tell me why?

Unfortunately, we cannot give you this information. Universities and colleges do not tell us the reasons for their decisions. You can ask them direct, but they do not have to give you their reasons. Some universities and colleges will discuss their decisions with you, but others will not.

29. I applied in the 2007 application cycle whilst holding a deferred
       place from the 2006 cycle, but your letter talks about withdrawal. What
       is happening?

First check the application number on the letter you have received. If it begins 06, then your deferred place has been withdrawn and your 2007 application will proceed.

If the application number on your letter begins 07, then contact our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211 for advice, as your current application has been withdrawn.

You cannot hold a deferred place from the 2006 application cycle and reapply in the 2007 application cycle.

30. I am planning holidays. What dates do I need to be aware of?

Check the Advice for Applicants booklet we sent you. If you intend going away and have not received all your offers, make sure your universities and colleges do not need to interview you. You should also make sure you have internet access so you can reply to offers.

In summer, if you have taken examinations, you need to be available when the results are published so you can confirm your acceptance if you have achieved the required grades, orto take part in Clearing.

31. What will happen if I have applied late?

If we receive your application after the 15 October or 15 January deadlines, but before the 30 June 2007, we will still send it to your choices of universities and colleges, but they do not have to consider you. Many universities and colleges do, however, continue to consider applications for some courses until the end of the application cycle.

Applications that we receive after 30 June 2007 are not sent to the universities and colleges. These applications go directly into Clearing.

32. I have applied late for Route B Art and Design courses. What effect will this have?

Applying late in Route B is potentially a problem. Route B is a sequential system (1,2,3), so only your first choice receives your application originally. If you are late, your first choice will receive your application alongside others for which it is a second choice. Your second choice will receive your application with the third choices, and your own third choice will be lost entirely.

As some universities and colleges will fill their places available from the First Round of applications (from those people who make them first preference), being late can be very bad news.

33. My application was late and it wasn't my fault. Can I do anything?

If you have applied for three Route B art and design courses and we receive your application after 24 March, you will lose your third choice. We send Route B applications to the first, second and third choices of university or college on specific dates. If we receive your applications after 24 March, you will have already missed the deadline for sending applications to first choice universities and colleges. We will, therefore, only send your application to your first choice when we send other applicants' applications to their second choices. Similarly, if you do not obtain a place at your first choice, we will send your application to your second choice when we send other applicants' applications to their third choices. We will not be able to send your application to your third choice.

Some universities and colleges fill all their places on Route B courses from the applications we send them on the first despatch date. If your application is late, it will not be included in this despatch and your prospects of obtaining a place might be seriously affected.

34. I understand I can get a copy of my application from you, but how?

Yes, under The Data Protection Act, you can receive a copy of any information we have about you. Normally, you would request this in writing. The cost is £10.

If you have a credit or debit card, you can ring our Customer Service Unit on 0870 1122211 and arrange to receive a copy of the information we hold.

35. When will my universities and colleges make a decision about my application?

We can only tell you the longest this process might take. Often universities and colleges are much quicker than this, but:

• If we received your application on or before 15 January, we ask universities and colleges to give us their decision by the end of March. Some of them do not always achieve this, especially on popular courses, so the latest you could receive their decision is early May.

• If we received your application after 15 January, your universities or colleges could take as long as July to make their decisions.

36. When do I reply to my offers?

We do not ask you to reply until all your universities and colleges have sent us decisions on your application. When they have, you will receive a reply date, which will vary depending on the date that you receive your final decision. If you receive your last decision by the end of March, we will expect you to reply to offers by 4 May. If we don't receive your last decision until early May, then you would be expected to reply by 6 June. Your reply date need not be the same as that of your friends.

If you apply in Route B, you are expected to reply to your offers within 14 Calendar days of the date on your offer letter.

37. If I decline my offers, will I be eligible for Extra or Clearing?

Yes, it is very likely that you will be eligible to use these services. If during the period 13 March to 6 July 2007 you have

• already made six choices,

• received decisions or withdrawn from all these choices and

• declined any offers made,

you can apply to further universities and colleges using Extra.

From mid July 2007, if you have received decisions from all your choices and you have declined any offers made, you will be eligible to apply to other universities and colleges in Clearing. You do not need to have already made the maximum number of six choices to be eligible for Clearing.

38. Who do I talk to about accommodation?

We are not involved in accommodation issues. Talk to the university or college offering you a place.

39. What will happen if I do not reply to my offers by my deadline?

Shortly after your reply date, we will assume you do not wish to accept your offers and decline them on your behalf. We will write to you and tell you what has happened. In most cases universities and colleges allow us to accept offers on your behalf if you get back to us within 14 calendar days of the date on our letter. If you are happy that your offers were declined, we will tell you about the next stage of the application process.

40. How many university or college offers can I accept?

If your offers are Conditional, you can accept one as Firm (F) acceptance and another as Insurance (I). Your Insurance (I) will usually be an offer requiring lower grades in case you do not meet your Firm (F) offer.

If your offers are Unconditional, you only accept one, as you do not need to hold another. It will be your Firm (F) acceptance. At that point, the place will be yours.

If you have a mixture of Conditional and Unconditional offers, you can hold an Unconditional offer as Insurance if you Firmly (F) accept a Conditional offer. If you make the Unconditional offer your Firm (F) choice, you do not need an Insurance acceptance (and will not be able to record one).

41. Can I accept an offer as Insurance even though it wants the same        grades as my Firm?

We will record whatever you want. It would only be of any use, however, if your Insurance choice decided to accept you on lower grades.

42. Am I allowed to choose between my Firm and Insurance choices if I get        the grades for both?

No. You will be given your place at your Firm (F) choice.

43. Does my application guarantee I will be found a place?

No. For a whole range of reasons, that is impossible. We can only provide an efficient and responsive application system; we cannot guarantee that you will find a place.

44. My university or college has told me the course I applied for has been        discontinued. What can I do?

You should have been offered the chance to choose another course at that university or college. If nothing is available that you want, you should be offered the chance to apply to another university or college in its place. They should have sent you a form offering these options. If this has not happened, contact them immediately for further advice. Our Customer Service Unit can also help on 0870 1122211.

45. My university or college says I am on a waiting list. What does this        mean?

Waiting lists are not an official part of the UCAS system and we cannot advise you on this. We would suggest you discuss the effects of this on your application with the university or college concerned.

46. If I withdraw this year's application, can I reapply next year?

Yes. The only thing which prevents you reapplying is if you try to hold a deferred entry place from this year's application and you attempt to reapply in the next application cycle.

47. I am not able to take my examinations this year. What happens to        my application?

If your examinations would have qualified you for university or college, you need to withdraw your application and reapply in a following year.

If you think you will want to reapply to the same universities and colleges in future, explain what has happened to them in writing. You will find they are keen to offer help and advice.

If the reason this has happened is illness, do let your universities and colleges know. Often your school or college will write on your behalf.

48. I have been interviewed. How long will it be before I receive a decision?

Check your position on Track. If we have received a decision it will be shown there.

If your university or college promised to let you know by a certain date which has now passed, remember it is very busy, but once you have given it a reasonable amount of leeway, then your next step will be to contact it direct. Remember to have your application details to hand.

49. My offer letter asks me to send proof of my qualifications. Where        do I send this?

It is your university or college which is requesting proof. That is where to send it. It is a good idea to discuss with your university or college what it wants to receive and how it would advise you to do this, before taking the risk of sending originals of certificates through the post.

50. The university or college I have applied to wants me to take an        additional admissions test. Where can I find out more?

Some courses now want applicants to take additional admissions tests, like GAMSAT, the Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test. Information about these tests is available here

The other tests we know of are:

BMAT - Bio-Medical Admissions Test
HAT - History Aptitude Test
LNAT - National Admissions Test for Law
MML - Modern and Medieval Languages
MSAT - Medical Selection Admissions Test
STAT - Special Tertiary Admissions Test
STEP - Sixth Term Examinations Papers
TSA - Thinking Skills Assessment
UKCAT - UK Clinical Aptitude Test
UMAT - Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test

If your university or college wishes you to take one of these tests, there is nothing wrong with asking them for further information.