Applied but Got No Offer? You’ll Love UCAS Extra

…an application event that starts on 25 February and ends early July.  It’s for undergraduate applicants – so anyone applying through UCAS.

Not everyone call apply in Extra.  You can use Extra to get an offer if:

If you haven’t applied at all yet, you can still apply in the normal route – there is no need to go through Extra.

When you log into the UCAS online application system ‘Track’, you’ll be able to see if you’re eligible to apply in Extra.   There’ll be a UCAS Extra button on your profile.

For many courses the UCAS deadline was on 15 January – but many other courses still have places available and take applications.  You can find these on the UCAS website by selecting the ‘Show Courses in Extra’ option.

To apply in Extra, go onto the university or UCAS website and look at courses that are available in Extra. Once you’ve found a course that that you like, you apply by adding it an Extra choice in UCAS Track.

When you add an Extra choice, UCAS sends your original UCAS application, together with your original personal statement and reference to the university.

The university then has 21 days to make a decision. If they don’t, you can continue waiting or  you can withdraw your application to apply for an Extra course somewhere else.

You can only apply for one Extra choice each time.  This means, you choose one course and UCAS sends your application to that university.  You can apply after the university has replied – but remember they have 21 days to make a decision, you can’t withdraw your application during this time.  Only after you’ve received the university’s reply, can you decide whether to accept the course, or reject it so you can apply somewhere else.

As you can only apply to one Extra choice, if you get an offer and you accept that offer, you become ‘firm’ with that university. You get ‘extra’ but you don’t get ‘insurance’ – sorry, terrible joke.

If you want to apply in Extra but you’re still waiting for some university decisions or you hold some offers – you would need to either withdraw your application or decline the offers.  Sometimes it’s risky to do – what if you don’t get an offer in Extra – but if you don’t like any of your current options, taking that risk may be the right thing to do.

Also, you can always contact the Extra choice in advance to see what your chances would be.

As I said above, UCAS will send your original personal statement with your Extra application.  The admissions staff will know that you’d written it for your original UCAS application.

But, if your Extra choice is in a totally different subject, I’d recommend you email an updated personal statement to the Admissions Tutor just before they get your application through UCAS.

…you get an offer that you are happy to accept? If that’s what you wanted, go ahead and accept it.

…you get an offer that you don’t want? Don’t waste your time, decline it and apply again.

…you get rejected? You can apply for another course in Extra. You can apply again and again until you get an offer that you’re happy to accept – as long as it’s within the deadline.

…the university doesn’t reply? The university has 21 days to make a decision. If they take longer, the ‘Add Extra Choice’ button will appear in your UCAS Track.  You can either apply to another course – or if you want to continue waiting, email the university and ask when you can expect a decision.

Remember, you can apply in UCAS Extra if you’ve used all five UCAS choices and don’t have any offer at the moment – either because you’ve been rejected, or because you’ve declined your offers.

Here are my final tips:

1. Only apply to a course you want.  Don’t waste your time waiting for a decision on a course that you wouldn’t want to accept. If there is more than one Extra course you’d like to apply to, apply to your top choice first.
2.  Learn from any mistakes. What do you think happened last time, why didn’t you get an offer or why weren’t any of the offers the right choice for you?

UCAS Extra gives you a second chance to get an offer – make sure you grab that chance and make the most of it.