Uni choices

[Flyhigher]

Can you put-
Leeds
sheffield
Newcastle
Liverpool
in that order in ucas?

for business or history
will you get offers from all four?
TIA x

Don’t know which uni to put 5th either?

UCAS automatically puts your choices in alphabetical order - but the universities can’t see where else you’ve applied.

whether and what level offers you get will depend on your qualifications and the popularity of that course at that university. Nobody can say yes or no with certainty.

You may find it’s useful to look at the Higher Education board, that’s lots of useful information and lots of knowledgeable poster on there.

You don't put your choices in any particular order.

It's impossible to say how many offers you will get as it's based on your predicted grades, their standard offer & demand for the course.

Your answers to the questions on the UCAS form need to convince the admissions team that you will be a good fit for the course. It would be challenging to sound convincing for 2 very different courses such as history & business as you need to demonstrate your interest in the course. Sporting achievements, music grades and D of E may only merit a line in your application.

You need to look at their standard offer vs predicted grades. The order is irrelevant to ucas.

Yeh you don’t put them in order. For sure you can apply to those four. Whether you will get an offer depends upon a few things, mostly your PGs for A level (or the post-16 qual being taken).

GCSEs need to be passes for English and maths. A levels if taken probably need to include history but not necessarily business. Personal statement and reference from sixth form are also relevant. The PS needs to be tailored to show your interest in the subject which I agree, might be tricky for two quite different courses. My DD did it tho (not those subjects).

If your PGs match the typical offer (info available online) then an offer is likely, tho not guaranteed.

The UCAS website itself is a useful source of information on how the system works. Each university will also indicate what the requirements are in terms of subject / grade requirements for each course (e.g. BA History may well require A level History, a degree in Business Studies may only have grade requirements, no specific subjects other than the general grade x in Maths and English Language at GCSE, A level grades XXY, practical endorsement in science A levels, where taken, to have been passed etc).

As already said, completing your application for History at some universities and Business at others would be difficult- do you mean, you can't decide which to study and would apply for the same subject everywhere once you hsbe made your mind up?

Each university can't see the others, but if you apply for 2 courses at the same uni, the uni can in general see that.

Be aware that if you apply for 2 similar courses at the same university, they may only offer you the less competitive/popular course. From their perspective it "balances the load" but from the students perspective putting a 2nd course at a preferred university as "insurance" can actually result in them not getting an offer for their first preference course.

Can you suggest a 5th uni?
do some people only put 4 down?
how is that viewed.
it’s squeaky bum time.
have to decide between business and history.

not easy.

what does MN think? Business or history? X

You can’t just randomly choose one! Have you visited any, attended open days, looked online to assess which your predicted grades may gain you an offer? What do you hope to do longer term and what are your A levels or equivalent subjects?

Many people put down 1 or 2 exceeding their predicted grades, 2 or 3 at their predicted grades and one "safe" choice below their predicted grades. That doesn't aways work as DD's safe choice rejected her but her aspirational choice accepted her.

There is a huge difference between the two subjects you like. Write down a list of what you think interests you about each. Look at the courses available, visit them & talk to current students. What draws you towards those universities?

When are you applying?

It looks like you want a northern Uni. Have you checked these courses against your predicted grades? How about York as another northern Uni.

When we were looking for our YP we looked at campus V city and he preferred city so that ruled some out. He wanted to be within 3 hours drive of home. He also wanted unis that were particularly good for his subject.

Have you visited them and spoken to the departments?
last year my daughter walked on Campus at one she thought she would like and install new she hated it. Another she found too quiet even for her (and she wanted a quiet place).
She also suspects that she didn’t get an offer from one Uni as her personal statement was too targeted at a slightly different course at another Uni

It's fine to only put 4 down. In fact, if you're not sure, leave one open; you can always add it at a later date.

Is this for 2026?

It’s OK to put four unis down and you can add a fifth later, as PPs say.

It’s really up to the candidate to choose between history and business. Yes have they visited unis? What did they like? What did they thin of the different courses? Neither subject is vocational as such so it really comes down to what they woudl enjoy and do better at.