Transferring to a different university

[DoNotBringLulu]

Hi, would welcome any experience of this - my ds is set to complete his first year but for next year would like to transfer to a nearby university.

Would welcome any advice. I understand each university has its process.

Thanks in advance

Looking at two universities at random (UEA and KCL), for both of these, there needs to be an initial discussion with the Admissions office, but the actual application is through UCAS. Has he already checked that the modules he has studied are the same / very close to those that he would have studied at the other university? If they are not, then he may only be allowed to apply to start again in first year. A couple of DD's friends transferred, after first year, but both restarted rather than moved across, so to speak (I don't know whether they were turned down for transfer into second year, or just decided to start over completely anyway, though).

I don't think applications to transfer into year 2 of a course would be handled by UCAS. You'd need to talk to the individual university. Each uni is different so there's not much advice anyone can give, but I would think that universities that offer a more "Modular" approach would be very open to this sort of thing because there would be plenty of second year modules which were designed to be accessible to a range of students without any assumptions about which modules they studied in year 1. Courses which have less flexibility in them and where all the year 2 students will have done the same basic course in year 1 would find it more difficult to accommodate someone coming in from elsewhere.

If it hadn't been for the pandemic I would suggest that restarting at Year 1 would be better - from a funding point of view the system allows for one "false start" i.e. writing off one year. However there is going to be a huge bulge for entry into year 1 in 2021 from vast numbers of students who decided to wait a year rather than having the unsatisfactory "covid version" of the university experience, so I think that might have less chance of success.

How to apply?

All transfer applications must be made through UCAS, and the normal deadlines apply.Please note:Dentistry transfer applications are made directly through King's Apply. Please see the section below for specific information on transferring to Dentistry.

As general guidance, applications for transfer into the second year will only be considered if you meet all of the requirements below:

You have met the standard first year entry requirements for the course (such as A-levels or equivalent)

You have studied the same or very similar modules to those on the first year of the course here at King’s in your first year. Please take some time to look at the course on ouronline prospectus, and see the ‘structure’ section for an idea of content. The content of your current degree needs to be very similar, so please satisfy yourself of your suitability before making a formal request to transfer.

You have achieved or are achieving a 2:1/high 2:1 standard in your first year of your studies.

www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/transferring-to-kings

On your UCAS application, there is a question which asks what year you are applying for, I think- as in, normally it would be '1', but for those applying for a course with a Foundation year it would be '0' and for some courses at Scottish universities, those with Advanced Highers or A levels are entitled to go straight into year 2, if they want to, so would have to be able to specify 'year 2'.

It's possible that not all universities require an application via UCAS, of course, or that I managed to pick the only two that do in my random search.

Thanks for replies appreciate them.

Ds has been successful academically on his course. This will be his first choice university (also a Russell Group and highly competitive) but he just missed out - got a C needed a B - hoping they will take his successful first year into consideration.