Offers for 2025

[ontheturn]

I noticed that in 2024 there was an offers thread where people shared when their children. had submitted to ucas and what offers they had received. Anyone interested? We have offers for Manchester, Bristol and Leeds all within ten days of submitting ucas but still waiting on Edinburgh. We do know others who submitted at the same time who have had Edinburgh offers already.

Thank you!
Bristol offered him Mechanicalnor Electrical but he declined as he really wants Aero.
Still waiting on Imperial 🙄
DS does have an offer from Southampton so that is looking strong at the moment.

Hmm, good to know!

I did engineering and my uni did similar, said it was to do with IMechE standards and people not meeting them. 80 started and 20 of us graduated. Most of the ones who were removed were put onto other technical-based degrees. Not sure if that’s widespread in engineering, maybe my year was a weak intake?

They’re doing well - working lots of jobs to help pay towards their extortionate rent though! Not been applying to any graduate jobs yet as they don’t graduate till next year. It really has flown by but they said St Andrews is the perfect Uni for them which is a lovely thing to hear as a parent.

I have dc at both Manchester and Durham - they are very different cities and uni experiences. Both my dc are very happy with their choices (they’re both in 2nd year) - dd at Durham is in a Bailey College - living out this year but back in college next.

if it helps I am paying broadly the same for their rent this year. Ds in Manchester was in Unsworth last year, living in Fallowfield this year and on the Fallowfield / Withington border next - this is where the vast majority of students from both UoM and MMU live.

Enjoy Durham offer holders day.

@KittyMcKitty my ds is going to firm Durham. Would you be able to tell me about the accomodation application for first year please? From what I've read DS has to put in his college preferences by May then his application for accomodation by July. Do you think it matters that he'll be doing these by but close to the deadline? I've read that if you meet these deadlines you're guaranteed accomodation but not necessarily what you apply for. Just wondering how you found the process.

My daughter is a second year currently so read all the info from Durham carefully as it may have changed - get your dc to check junk regularly as well and ensure they reply by deadlines - last year a number didn’t and there were dc left without accommodation.

the first thing your dc needs to do is express college preferences (I’m not sure if they need to have firmed / insured before they can do this) - this is where they rank all 16 colleges.

there will also be a form they need to fill out to say they want college accommodation- last year many didn’t do this and therefore didn’t get college accommodation. This is separate from ranking colleges - everyone has a college - not everyone wants college accommodation.

Durham will then issue all prospective students with a preliminary college allocation - again check Durham info for dates. This is not a confirmed college.

After A level results then students are given a confirmed college allocation - this may be the one they already have but they may be reallocated. It says on the website the priority for not reallocating.

Once you have a confirmed college allocation (this may take sometime - my daughter and some of her friends waited 10+ days before they were confirmed into their provisional college (Chads) then the college will contact you and send an accommodation preference form. This will vary from college to college. The college will then allocate you accommodation.

i don’t think timings matter as long as before deadline.

Basically everything up so when you have a confirmed college is done at University level. When you have a confirmed college it is done at college level.

With the exception of Chads and Johns uni accommodation has a set pricing structure. Chads and Johns do their own thing. No idea about Johns but Chads costs are on their website. All uni food is the same except Chads and Johns.

Approx 80% first years at Chads share a room - I know people (maybe parents?) get anxious about this but it’s no big deal as it’s just the norm. My daughter shared - her desire to go to Chads outweighed any worry about sharing. She had a massive room with ensuite. All the rooms at Chads are different as it’s a selection of listed buildings.

good luck! Dd adores Chads and Durham - she is living out this yr but very excited to be back in college next yr (it’s a very normal thing in Durham to live in in 3rd year and always over subscribed). She’s in college everyday as it is to use the library and for meetings etc.

@Perzival my DS has firmed Durham and is now thinking about college choices. We had a wander around the hill colleges yesterday so he could get a feel for the general vibe of each before deciding which ones he wants to visit on offer holder day next month. He thinks Cuth's, St Mary's and maybe South or John Snow. He originally thought self catering would be his priority but likes the look of Mary's.
What are your DS's preferences?

Thank you both.

He's not decided as yet, he just can't make up his mind. I think he'd be happy with any. I'm trying to get him to go into catered halls just for my peace of mind. I'd also like him to go into one of the less posher ones as we're nowhere near posh (think proper Northerner) although he's hoping it'll increase his appeal to the girls.

It's so good that your son has an idea of where he'd like to be based. They're all great and it's such a beautiful university.

@Perzival by the posh ones do you mean the Bailey colleges? My dd is at Chads and is state educated - we are certainly not posh - and the college is full of a real mix of
people.

Tbh the % of private school students is so high that posh/not posh is pretty redundant, they're pretty evenly spread out 😁
Many years ago Cuth's was known as the college for locals but that's no longer the case (DS is only favouring it because his grandad was senior tutor there)
I think most students end up loving the college they end up in (once they're over the disappointment of not living in the castle) so if catered is his preference then just put all the self catered ones at the bottom of his list & he should be ok.
If my DS isn't happy with his allocation then he'll probably stay at home as we're so close anyway.

Congrats on the Durham offers. We’ll be heading up in April for the offer day.

@Perzival, DS also has an offer for physics and is from a state school/pretty normal. Mind you, he’s not yet decided between Durham and Sheffield - think he’s a bit daunted by the offer. If he does opt for Durham he’d like to be self-catering so he can learn to properly fend for himself.

So we finally got a reply from Imperial and it was a No. DS is actually fine with it as I think he had since the exam in January to come to terms with it; I just feel cross the wait was so long for a rejection. Oh well.
All his efforts will now go into meeting the grades for Southampton, which he’s happy with.

DD firmed Durham and choose college preferences on the way home from the Offer day. She thought a lot of others seemed a bit withdrawn and others she spoke to weren’t probably going to choose it. She prefers catered but not Bailey. (State educated but “mature”).

@MotherOfCatBoy My ds got a no from Imperial last week too. He is fine with it though. And yes, it took 6 months after applying to receive that no.
I wonder with last year’s announcement of being second in the world, they received even more applications than usual? Obviously I know they are very competitive every year.

My daughter after this year being a gap year has got a place at Liverpool Hope, doing a joint honours in psychology and Early childhood development. Her accommodation is all sorted as she applied through the disability process and will have an ensuite room on the campus.
I must say I am so glad like my son my daughter has had a gap year and was able to apply with results in hand, it has made the whole process very stress free and can see why some students choose to do a gap year.

@hennybeans yes maybe. It’s so competitive, he knew it was a long shot, but worth a try.
Where is your DS hoping to go?

@MotherOfCatBoy DS was lucky enough to get an Oxford offer. UCL will be his insurance. He goes to a very underperforming state college that sends virtually nobody to Oxbridge. So I suspect Oxford just had different qualities they were looking for compared to Imperial.

@hennybeans that’a fantastic! Hope he gets his first choice!

DC2 got their final offer from Edinburgh through today. I hope a lot of other people are finally hearing from Edin and the likes in the next week or two.

Ha yes re Edinburgh, DD too. Which I thought she didn't want to go to but now we're hurriedly organising a jaunt up there.

DD received her Edinburgh offer on Friday, the last one she was waiting for. She still has to visit both there and KCL offer days before making final decision.

@Umbilicat @Sittingontheporch @PartoftheBand Hi please could you share the subjects that Edi offers are for? Our daughter has 2 Edi offers and waiting for 2 others before choosing insurance option - doesn't know whether the final 2 subjects are likely to be rejections. Difficult to know as Edi are quite late. Thanks so much

I've PMed

Yes my daughter has just been offered Psychology at Edinburgh A*AA
she needs to decide between there and Durham. very proud of her!