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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Slowest and fastest Unis for making offers

33 replies

JesusWeptLady · 14/12/2023 18:53

I wondered if people could let me know which universities are quick with making offers?

I've gathered from recent threads that the slow ones include LSE, Durham, Edinburgh. Are there other really slow ones?

It would be great to know. My kids will be applying next autumn and we'll avoid some of the ones that take months to reply, I think.

OP posts:
spacechimp79 · 14/12/2023 18:56

UCL. Hardly anybody has any offers from them yet!

mummylife123 · 14/12/2023 19:18

JesusWeptLady · 14/12/2023 18:53

I wondered if people could let me know which universities are quick with making offers?

I've gathered from recent threads that the slow ones include LSE, Durham, Edinburgh. Are there other really slow ones?

It would be great to know. My kids will be applying next autumn and we'll avoid some of the ones that take months to reply, I think.

Slow are usually St As, most of the London ones, Durham, Bath I think can be quite slow also

BiancaBlank · 14/12/2023 21:10

LSE is notorious for being late. Durham, Edinburgh, St Andrews can be slow but it depends – I also know people who’ve had offers from all those before Christmas, including DD3. The last uni DD1 heard from was Bristol, and for DD2 Leeds (both late Mar).
As a very rough rule of thumb, I would say the more the competitive the uni/course, the more likely it is to keep candidates waiting (apart from Oxbridge). I reckon this is because they operate a reserve system. Eg in DD1’s cohort, one of her friends had an offer from Durham in Jan, but another one not till mid-May for same subject.
We found York, Exeter, QMUL, Warwick, Birmingham and Sheffield to be quick responders.

Original poster
JesusWeptLady · 14/12/2023 22:27

Thanks everyone, really good to know.
Any sense of how quick / slow Manchester is for courses like History and /or Psychology?

OP posts:
ragdollyanna1974 · 14/12/2023 22:29

DS had an offer from U of Manchester within a couple of days. (Psychology).
Also within few days: Nottingham, Sheffield and Liverpool.
Still waiting for Leeds 3 weeks later.

BlueskyBluesea · 15/12/2023 07:56

My DC heard within a couple of weeks of application going in from Bristol and Bath. The other choices were a few weeks after that. I have heard of other students in the same year waiting much longer for offers or rejections from the same university, some coming the day before the deadline for offers/rejections to be out.

I think it's important to research the universities and apply to places that would fit your child/ family situation most and offer good prospects rather than be too concerned about when the universities get back to you. Finding a good fit university can make such a difference and taking the time to visit the towns/cities that they are in is really worth it. We emailed the department my DC was interested in and were able to visit which was brilliant and less hectic than the open days. Good luck with your decision. 😊

Blanketpolicy · 15/12/2023 08:08

It is not just the uni it is the popularity of the course too.

When a uni replies is a very unusual selection criteria as the most popular courses/unis reply late for good reasons.

Ds had his Edinburgh engineering offer in Feb. Friends that applied there had their offers around the same time regardless of when they applied. They were not the last to offer either. His gf at the time applied for law and Edinburgh offered much later for that course.

RampantIvy · 15/12/2023 08:11

DD applied to Manchester with grades in hand a few years ago. She got fed up with waiting for them to respond and withdrew her application as she had already decided her first choice. She had already met the grade requirements.

futureistoday · 15/12/2023 13:53

Two years ago, when my elder DC applied, UCL was the latest to offer, even after LSE. Heard from them approx at the end and beginning of March correspondigly. This year, Durham offered about four weeks after the UCAS application was lodged by my other DC. Seems like an exception though..

piisnot3 · 15/12/2023 15:05

UCL slow
Kings (KCL) even slower
DS applied in oct, didn't hear from UCL for 5 months and from Kings until days before the UCAS auto-cutoff
They did both make offers in the end though.

UsingChangeofName · 15/12/2023 15:39

My experience is that Manchester seem to like to interview FAR more than anywhere else and that really slows their process down.
dd wasn't interviewed until the end of March I think it was and got offer a good way in to May.
That was the only University any of my three applied for (so 15 Universities) to interview (different years, different subjects).
This seems to have been said a few times on different threads over the years (also on WIWIKAU).

bringonyourwreckingball · 15/12/2023 16:01

Dd1 (physics) got Liverpool and York really quick, Edinburgh took a bit longer but she now has, Manchester want to interview.

PumpkinKnitter · 15/12/2023 16:12

Bristol, Exeter and Warwick were all quick for DD. For Bristol I think it depends on the subject as some put people on hold until after the end of January UCAS deadline. She had an email from Edinburgh today to say they are hoping to make decisions by the end of March, but it could be as late as early May. Sods law, Edinburgh is the one she really wants!

BiancaBlank · 15/12/2023 17:11

DD3 has also applied for Edinburgh, but by the end of March she will have been to the offer holder days for all the others and might well have made her choice. Edinburgh’s loss 😆

Highlyflavouredgravy · 15/12/2023 17:12

Warwick was the slowest for ds. Took months

Lifechange2023 · 15/12/2023 17:13

Still waiting on Bristol, currently on hold and Newcastle, haven’t heard anything yet.

Growlybear83 · 15/12/2023 17:16

JesusWeptLady · 14/12/2023 22:27

Thanks everyone, really good to know.
Any sense of how quick / slow Manchester is for courses like History and /or Psychology?

My daughter did history and politics and got an offer from Manchester the day after she submitted her application.

carolinenextdoor · 15/12/2023 17:44

It seems to depend on the course and university. The more competitive the course and university, the longer students seem to have to wait and often many months.
I suspect that many are in the ‘yes’ box and will potentially be made offers but they’re waiting for all applications.
if it’s going to be a definite no (due to grades etc), I think the universities should reject earlier rather than keeping students hanging on.

CormorantStrikesBack · 15/12/2023 18:05

It will be very dependent on the course.

PettsWoodParadise · 15/12/2023 20:56

Please don’t choose a university based on how long it ‘may’ take to get an offer. There are far
more important factors to consider (course, fit, cost of accommodation, availability, student satisfaction, career prospects, campus/city etc).

There was a poster last year who said the reason they ‘had’ to know within a few weeks was their DC was anxious, however this type of focus is not healthy and maybe having another year to mature and get to grips with those fears and anxieties was better for them as there will be many more challenges ahead.

Gillipips28 · 15/12/2023 21:12

Son got an offer from Durham about 10 days ago I think (MChem), friends son already has offers from Warwick, Exeter, Bristol and bath (I think) but interview for Manchester for Feb/March (physics). We were surprised at Durham, given the rep for waiting to give out offers.

Gillipips28 · 15/12/2023 21:14

Agree with some others. You should not be encouraging your child to apply/not apply based on speed of offers. All applications before the Jan cut off date are given equal consideration and I don't believe you can even pick your firm/insurance on UCAS until you have heard one way or the other from all of them anyway. And this doesn't even have to be done until may/June (I don't think?)

orchardsquare · 15/12/2023 21:18

The only reason I can think of to avoid unis with late offers, is it could delay you accepting another university (and then you don't get an offer anyway). This could mean you lose out on accommodation options at the university you end up at.

DSandDD · 15/12/2023 22:20

Having read various threads, very much depends on the subject. My son has had an offer from St Andrews, UCL and Bath for modern languages in the last 2 weeks - we weren't expecting UCL and St A quite so soon.

Original poster
JesusWeptLady · 16/12/2023 00:32

Thanks for all the information, very helpful For those of you concerned we are only looking at universities based on the speed of their reply, you do not have to worry. This is one very small factor we are looking at AFTER finding the best courses and locations. Maybe it would have helped if I'd prefaced my original post with that I don't know - but I'd think it would be obvious to most people.

OP posts:
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