Stupid question about Uni offers

[SlightlyJaded]

Neither DH or I went to Uni for various reasons, so have no experience of the offers process.

DD is waiting on offers and currently has three out of the five responses on the UCAS portal (all conditional offers - fine). Two Russell Group/Redbricks and one 'back up' option.

She is waiting on two more Russell Group University responses including her first choice Uni (very strong in her particular subject), who are yet to respond, and she is reading all sorts into that. I sort of assumed that you would get a conditional offer pretty much as standard, and that an outright rejection would be very unusual, so have been telling her not to worry - but I don't know if that's correct.

Lots via Google about conditional vs unconditional offers, but very little on the likelihood of outright rejection. Can someone please advise?

Thank you.

You can get rejections. They can only make a certain number of offers for each course.

She isn't guaranteed an offer, sorry. They can't offer everyone a place who meet the requirements. They won't have enough places available. They'll make offers based on who scores highest across interviews, personal statements, predicted grades, and any other criteria they use.

Dd got four offers by Feb then waited until May to hear from St Andrews and was rejected.

Yes you can be rejected, they can't accept everybody who applies to the course

They can also offer an alternative, less popular course.

It's quite common to get an outright rejection especially for russell groups and competitive subjects. What I wouldnt worry about is her not having heard yet. That really doesn't indicate that much. I know some people who for places like Durham/Manchester didn't recieve an offer until march- may time

My son got three offers ages ago and only just heard from Exeter with an offer.

You absolutely can get rejected but she shouldn't panic yet as it's very early to have heard back from all of your choices.

My DS has had 4 out of 5 offers. Don’t panic yet !

Ok thank you.

She has conditional offers from Leeds and Manchester and her back up, and is waiting on Warwick and Newcastle.

So I guess if she does get rejection from Newcastle (preferred) I can 'play up' the fact she got offers from the other two. That's really helpful, thank you.

My DS is still waiting for responses from Durham and Bristol. Apparently this is quite normal for some Uni's.

Been through this!

Yes you can get rejections. Either complete ones or offers for a different course. It's happened to my DC - even getting an offer from the higher status/higher grades university, and a rejection from one of the much lower required grade ones.

I think it must all come down to a numbers game which is a bit impenetrable from the outside. Offers were (anecdotally) a bit all over the place during the covid years (so many deferred that there were fewer places for new applicants, and some courses were just full early) but I think that's largely settled down now.

I don't think I would read anything into it at this stage. DS got 4 offers almost immediately and we're now waiting for Aberdeen. I saw on the Student Room forum that Aberdeen had just dealt with a big January intake and so weren't even going to look at September applications until February.

Is there ANY sort of stat or indication I can give her - even vague?

Say 50% chance of some kind of offer? Is info like that published anywhere?

Thanks again

@SlightlyJaded Some universities may publish applications vs course places on their site but it's historical data and you don't know if this year is an different. The stats for Oxbridge would highlight how over subscribed some courses are.

Some universities decide really late so rejections and acceptance will flow for another few monhs.There are Facebook groups for parents of pre Uni that you might want to join.

There is also a higher education section on MN which has a few threads on offers/rejections received so far. I would say offer grades appear high this year,
potentially as a result of inflated grades from previous years

Hi we have 4 offers but are still waiting for dds first choice. It's horrible but all you can do is hold your nerve and keep your fingers crossed.
Good luck to your dd.

I'm going through it for a second consecutive year - DS was a very strong (Oxbridge) candidate and had four offers (incl Cambridge) by Jan. He was also offered Durham but much later, so had all 5 by the time he had to firm anything.

DD has had 3 offers but really wants one from either of her choices further south - they haven't offered yet, but they haven't rejected either, so I'm trying to stay positive for her and say 'no news is good news'. She does have two very strong choices, and one insurance, but I know that she's a bit deflated she hasn't heard back from her two favoured courses. She is looking to do a combined honours, and her peers who are doing the single subjects are starting to get offers, so I'm hoping its not too much longer.....!

DS had five offers way BEFORE he had to firm - doh!

@SlightlyJaded , you can create an account with The Student Room website and find the course/ uni and then follow the thread re offers. For example my dd is waiting for Bath for Psychology, her predicted grades are in line with the offer grades, Bath for this course give out offers in tranches starting with those predicted 4 x A star so from looking at the thread and linked spreadsheet from last year I reckon she might hear in April if she is going to get an offer.

Also there is a good thread in the Higher Education section re offers and the FaceBook group WIWIKAU is full of info and lots of questions being answered.

Thanks all - I've now looked through all the resources and have a much clearer picture.

DS got an offer from Warwick last year and was much later than his other ones. Can’t remember exactly when but think was sometime like March.