Not every student's journey to university is the same. If you miss the UCAS application deadline, whatever your reasons, don't worry - there are other opportunities to apply to university. Read on to find out more.

If you've felt undecided about going to university, or it wasn't something you'd considered until now, that's okay – it’s not uncommon for young people to feel uncertain about their next steps.

Each year, plenty of students apply late or through Clearing and find their perfect course and university. Read our full blog for more information on university application deadlines, and what you need to do next. 

When is late?

The deadline to apply to start university in autumn 2023 is:

15 October 2022: for most courses in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine/science, and for applications to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge

25 January 2023: for most other undergradate courses

But if you miss the January deadline, you can still apply. In fact, all potential students can apply late, including EU and international students.

However, you should be aware that when you apply after the deadline there is one key difference - your application won’t get 'equal consideration'.

What is 'equal consideration'? 

To avoid any unfairness, all applications received from September 2022 – when the application process opened – to the January deadline, are considered on an equal basis, and given the same amount of priority. 

After the deadline has passed, universities don’t have to consider applications equally. This means only the best applications are chosen to fill the remaining spaces.

How to apply to university late 

Try to resist the temptation to rush your application and get it sent off the second it’s ready. A good university application takes lots of time, patience and focus.

Putting time into perfecting your application will give you a better chance of success than sending your application sooner before you've had enough time to work on it.

Remember, spaces are now more limited and only the best applications will get offers.

The next deadline you need to prepare for is 30 June 2023. 

Read below our top tips for applying to university late.

1. Hold off submitting your application

Waiting a little while before submitting your application doesn’t just give you more time to work on it, it also makes good sense. 

After the January deadline, universities are still looking over a lot of applications. This means it can take weeks to know if they have any free spaces left on their courses. 

By mid to late February, universities have told UCAS whether they will be in UCAS Extra and, if so, for which courses. UCAS Extra is a free service for applicants who have not received any offers, or have received their offers but don’t want to accept them.

By waiting you will have a better idea of what’s still out there, and the different options available to you.

2. Map out your options

Once you know what options are available to you, you will be able to make a shortlist of courses you want to apply for. 

Course search on the UCAS website is a good first port of call to see which courses have space for you.

You can also find the relevant university forum on The Student Room to ask university official reps and current students your questions. 

3. Call the universities you're interested in

At this point, the number of free spaces on courses is changing all the time. So, you will need to check with the university that you’re interested in before making an application, and the quickest way to do this is by contacting your chosen university.  

When you speak to your university, you should explain your current situation, your grades or predicted grades, and tell them a little bit about yourself. 

It’s a good idea to make notes before the call, so you don’t forget any key points that will really sell you to a potential university.

At this point, the university should be able to tell you if they will consider you or not. If yes, then you can make your application. If not, then trust that it wasn’t meant to be and start your search again.

4. Sending off your application

All other elements of the application process are the same. Once you know which courses you would like to apply for, you can submit your late application through your UCAS Hub. If you're new to the application process entirely, why not read our step-by-step guide to applying to university?

What happens if I miss the 30 June deadline?

If you miss the 30 June deadline, don’t worry, it happens. You can still apply to university, but your application will go straight into the Clearing pool. More than 33,000 UK-based students found a place at university by going through Clearing in 2022. 

Find out how Clearing works.

Clearing is currently scheduled to begin on 5 July 2023 and end mid-October 2023. If you want to apply to a university after this point, you will need to contact your chosen universities directly to ask if they have any spots available and what their late application procedure is.

And if you don’t want to apply through Clearing, there's always the option of applying next year.

We hope you have found this blog post useful, and would encourage you to explore our Belong blog for more support on your journey to university. We understand that the application process is often stressful and worrying, but you will find the course and university that are right for you. Just take the process one step at a time, and do your best!