Update: 3 April 2020
Following the cancellation of examinations and assessments across the UK:
- Ofqual has shared further information on how grades will be awarded for GCSE, AS and A levels this summer, along with the reassurance that guidance for other general, vocational, and technical qualifications, such as BTECs, will be provided shortly.
- SQA has shared further information on the certification of National Courses and Awards, including National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses.
It’s essential for your students’ future education and careers that they receive a set of fair and justifiable examination results, and the processes outlined by Ofqual and SQA will do exactly that.
Although the process for awarding grades may be different, the admissions process to confirm your students places at universities and colleges will remain broadly similar to previous years. We are working to ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently, as they are in any other year.
Here at UCAS, we will receive regulated exam results from awarding bodies and match these to your students’ applications to send on to the universities and colleges that are holding offers for them. Their chosen universities and colleges are expected to consider these grades in the same way as any other qualifications. We will also continue to offer our Clearing service over the summer, giving applicants the flexibility to make choices throughout the rest of the year.
We will continue to stay in touch as the situation develops and more information becomes available. Please keep an eye out for our regular updates through email, ucas.com, and across our social media channels.
Update: 23 March 2020
Following the UK Government’s announcement, stating ‘universities in England should stop making unconditional offers or amending existing offers to students for up to two weeks’ we have made the decision to extend May’s decision and reply deadlines for undergraduate applications.
We can confirm the new dates are:
| Original date | UCAS Undergraduate deadline | New date |
| 5 May 2020 | The deadline for applicants to reply if they received all decisions from all their choices by 31 March 2020. | 19 May 2020 |
| 6 May 2020 | The deadline for universities and colleges to make decisions and reply to applications received by 15 January 2020. | 20 May 2020 |
These dates have been updated in Track, and we’ve emailed applicants to let them know if their deadlines have changed. We hope this gives students and their chosen universities and colleges the extra time they need to fully consider any decisions and offers, and ensures fairness in admissions is maintained. It also gives more time for further information to be shared on the awarding of grades for examinations and assessments which have been cancelled.
Since the UK Government’s announcement, the Office for Students (OfS) have shared further guidance and FAQs with universities and colleges in England to explain exactly what is covered in the two-week pause. In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) has written to vice-chancellors at Welsh universities and colleges, requesting that they also undertake a two-week pause on unconditional offers.
At this time, we are still looking to run Confirmation and Clearing in summer, similarly to previous years, giving applicants the flexibility to make choices throughout the remainder of the cycle.
We want to reassure you that we remain focused on making sure no applicant is disadvantaged during this time of uncertainty, and will continue to be on hand to support you and your students each step of the way.
Please keep an eye out for our regular updates through email, ucas.com, and across our social media channels.
Changes to UCAS events
To protect the health and wellbeing of those attending, we’ve postponed our UCAS exhibitions until 31 July – see all postponed exhibitions.
We’ve contacted everyone who registered to let them know, and that we are sorry for any inconvenience.
If your students were due to attend, please take this time to remind them about the many resources available online, such as the UCAS Hub, virtual tours, subject guides, and Unibuddy peer-to-peer support.
Impact on international applicants
We’re aware of changes to arrangements due to COVID-19 for a number of English language tests:
- Cambridge Assessment English – C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency tests
- IELTS
- Pearson Test of English (PTE)
- TOEFL
- Trinity College London – Integrated Skills in English (ISE)
Assessment arrangements and availability of results for international qualifications may also be subject to change. We recommend you contact awarding organisations for details of any potential changes. Below are links to websites of the several international awarding bodies:
We’ll continue to update information on ucas.com for students, including on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest updates page.
How can I keep up-to-date?
We’ll continue to follow the latest official advice, in particular from Public Health England and the World Health Organisation, and update our information on ucas.com where relevant – including our advice for international students.
Please note, individual universities may also decide to get in touch with applicants to offer support and discuss any specific requirements.