Can an unconditional university offer be switched to a different course?

[GeniusofShakespeare]

DS has an unconditional offer from his preferred uni (he's applying with grades in hand) but is now having a wobble about whether he has chosen the right subject and feels he should have applied for a different course at the same uni (different faculty).

Once he has made his mind up (hopefully soon!) is it possible to ask the admissions dept whether they could switch his offer to the other course, or is the only option to withdraw and try through clearing? He hasn't accepted the offer yet and has until May to do so.

(Obviously it may be that the other course is full or that they wouldn't take him for some other reason, but it would be good to know whether it is possible in principle.)

Thank you!

For a totally separate faculty, it’s likely to need to be a new application rather than a change.

He can ask. They can say no. My DD managed to do this but it was same faculty.

Thanks both. Presumably asking the question wouldn't jeopardise the offer he has?

No, it won't. The offer he has won't be affected by him asking a question.

Also he doesn’t need to wait for clearing. He can withdraw the application and do a new one. I wouldn’t do this unless his desired course has indicated it has space and will offer him.

I'm not sure this is right- I think if it's more than 14 days after you applied you can withdraw but you can't submit a new application.

The university might have an internal transfer system he can use after enrolling. Or they may facilitate the change by guaranteeing an offer once clearing starts. Unless the other course is oversubscribed or he's not qualified to take it, they will have a way to handle this. Definitely worth talking to them - the process can vary from place to place

This is definitely one where talking to them is the best way to go.

Probably starting with admissions in the faculty he interested in. It won’t do any harm to his existing offer to have that conversation.

Ah maybe. My daughter withdrew and reapplied but it was an original application from the year before that was deferred. There is also ucas extra if you reject everything…

My son was able to swap his offers for Geography to engineering at two of the places he’d had offers from when he had a wobble about the subject he’d applied for. He didn’t need to do a new application. He spoke to the admissions teams at the places he’d applied. The ones where they still had spaces on the courses he now wanted said they’d consider him swapping. He had to write a new personal statement essentially explaining why he wanted to switch and why he’d be right for the new course. He had the right alevels to be considered. They both subsequently switched his offer on ucas to the new subject.

i think admissions teams are quite used to dealing with this sort of thing. Was all quite straightforward really. A couple of unis couldn’t help as they’d already offered up to their max in his new subject. So I think it will depend on that but no harm in asking. Good luck

Really depends on the university and courses. It won't hurt to ask!

Get him to have a look at the UCAS website.

If you're happy with the university or college but you'd like to change the course details, you'll need to get in touch with the university or college rather than us.

• Then if they agree to it, they'll let us know about the change.
• If you've already had an offer from them, we'll update your application to show the new details.

https://www.ucas.com/applying/after-you-apply/making-changes-to-your-application-after-you-apply

My daughter did this. She had an unconditional offer (grades in hand) from Exeter for Biomed and changed to International Relations.

She called Admissions who were very helpful. They checked that the course was still open and told her to send an email requesting the change. They emailed back to confirm the change the same day.

One of the benefits of taking a gap year - gives them the chance to reflect and make sure the course is right for them.

Former admissions tutor here. I agree with everyone who says the best thing to do is to ask!

Has DS satisfied the entry requirements for the target degree programme? That would probably make a big difference. If he has, with his proven interest in the university I rate his chances for success as good, if he can make a strong case for this.

He should think about how to do that in a brief, cogent email of enquiry. No need to contact the school that has accepted him yet.

This is routine.