UCAS not updating DDs offer? No response from emails and no idea what's happening.

[shadypines]

Hi DD informed by uni if she placed them as her preferred choice she would have her conditional offer changed to unconditional. She did this and 3 to 4 weeks later nothing has been updated to show this.

Anyone else in same boat or have any further info please? She's getting 'edgy' about it.

As I said, no responses from her numerous emails to various bodies to give any clear answer as to the reason behind the delay and what is happening.

It sounds like the uni haven't informed UCAS, because anything submitted to UCAS will show once they update - it's usually several times a day but that might have changed given the current situation. It's best to think of UCAS as the post office of HE - they don't actually make any decisions, they just post stuff around.

When did your daughter notify the uni? As a lot have an extended Easter period and obviously the staff will now be working from home having to compete with accessing uni systems via VPN etc. What does it show on her uni portal? Most admits have access to something like that these days.

(I'm an admissions manager at one of the elite UK unis...)

Also when you say "she did this" where did she do it? Was it via email, a form on their website etc or do you just mean that she selected them as her firm on UCAS? And now she's still showing as conditional firm?

Unfortunately office for students has said they will impose swingeing fines on any covid changes to offers already made so they may well be not now processing the change to unconditional. Sorry...

Assuming England of course.

She had this offer of the unconditional offer scheme back in December so well before any of the changes due to Covid 19 and she changed it on UCAS or wherever she is supposed to change it as far as I am aware. I realise that staff will be fewer etc but it just seems wrong to keep students in the dark with not even an email. Even if they could send out a big standard reply as some sort of explanation.

So she had an offer of BBB say, and a separate letter saying if it she firmed them they'd make her unconditional?

Ask her to email the uni to confirm her status then - ds had similar (reduced if firmed), but they explained that his offer on UCAS would remain, but that they'd manually amend his offer on their system.

It does not really matter as long as she has confirmation from the uni. Even on results day they can just accept her anyway. Like pp suspect ucas are holding fire on changes of offers to unconditional.

So they told her she could do this in December but she only did it four weeks ago? I think that might have created quite a difficult situation as universities have been told (as a pp said, under threat of huge fines) not to change offers under current circumstances and although hers predated that the timing of it is... unfortunate. Which might be why they're not getting back to her emails, they may be trying to make sure that changing it in accordance with this previous arrangement doesn't risk breaching the new requirements, which OfS have given themselves considerable power to enforce.

Hmm she may well have fallen between the cracks as others have said - I believe admits have a few more weeks to make decisions so it could also be that the uni are waiting until then, seeing how many they have in your daughter's position and then will make a decision ensuring that they don't break any of the newly introduced rules rather than doing it as they go along.

I do agree that an email wouldn't hurt but staff will also be very wary about what they can put in writing if it is all being checked by their legal teams meaning the email she'd get would probably be a few lines of "keep warm" waffle that doesn't say anything helpful. Also if it's anything like my uni, complex decisions like this are made very high up and only filter down to the people who are actually dealing with the students at the very last moment, so it's likely the people she's emailing also don't know but aren't in a position to explain that to her.

DS's offer was also changed to unconditional before lockdown and while it's been updated on the uni's student portal, it hasn't yet been updated on UCAS. I understood the embargo was until the 4th. Emails to uni haven't got him any further.