Universities and colleges can make different offers to your son or daughter

Offers from universities and colleges can be conditional or unconditional. Conditional offers require the applicant to obtain certain grades or points; unconditional offers mean that the applicant has satisfied the entry requirements for the course.

Applicants can accept one offer as a 'firm' acceptance and the other as an 'insurance' acceptance. The firm acceptance should be the place that your son or daughter wants to go to; the insurance acceptance is a second choice in case they do not meet the requirements for their first choice. If they are made unconditional offers, they can accept only one, but an unconditional offer can act as a perfect insurance choice if the firm choice is conditional.

Replying to an offer for a Route B course

If your son or daughter has applied to Route B art and design courses only and receives an offer, they must decide either to accept the offer or decline it and move on to the next choice. If they are unsuccessful, their application will automatically be sent to their next choice. They should reply within 14 days (21 days if they are applying from outside the European Union). Their reply date will be displayed on Track.

If they have applied to both Route A and Route B courses, they can choose to 'keep' a Route B offer, which means it will be held until all Route A decisions have been received by us. They can then reply to their offers.

What to do if they are unsuccessful

Please remember that universities and colleges can decline an applicant for many reasons, one of which could be that the course is full, so it may not be personal. The university or college may provide a reason for their decision on Track at the time of their initial decision, or at a later date. However, if your son or daughter has already replied to their offers or no reason is shown on Track, they will have to contact the university or college direct to discuss the reason why they were unsuccessful.

More information about different decisions is available in the student section.