Understand and reply to your university offer

Congratulations on your offer to study at Southampton!

We’re excited about what’s ahead for you. To help you get started, we’ve put together some key details about your university offer and the next steps.

 

Check your offer

Please read your offer letter carefully. Some courses have extra conditions you must meet. You may need to send us some documentation or if you’ve applied for a professional course you may need to complete an occupational health assessment.

Check your offer letter for any deadlines. You must meet all conditions on time to secure your place.

Conditional, unconditional and contextual offers 

Conditional offer

If you've received a conditional offer, you must meet the conditions listed in your offer. These may include:

  • Academic condition, such as passing exams or providing proof of your qualifications
  • Non-academic condition, such as completing an occupational health assessment
  • English language requirement, if English is not your first language

We'll tell you where to send any documents we need. You can also find this information in your UCAS Hub.

Unconditional offer

If you've received an unconditional offer you’ve already met all the entry requirements and provided the evidence, we need. You must accept the offer to secure your place.

Offers with the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

If you've taken an EPQ, your offer may show what you need to achieve with and without your EPQ grade.

Contextual offer

If your application meets our contextual criteria, we may offer you a place with lower entry requirements. We’ll email you if this applies to you.

If you are not a British citizen, an Irish national, or you do not have another type of UK immigration permission, you may need to apply for a visa.

If you need a visa, you may also need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate for certain subjects. Find out more about ATAS.
 

On-campus visit days and virtual visit opportunities

Once you’ve received an offer, we’ll invite you to an on-campus visit day and a virtual visit event. These are great opportunities to: 

  • explore your course and modules in more detail
  • meet your lecturers, and see where you’ll study
  • chat with current students about student life and what it’s like to live and study here
  • discover our facilities, from campuses and sports centres to the library, accommodation, and student support services

We'll also email you details on how to join our online Unibuddy Community, where you can connect with other offer holders and chat with current students. Contact our Event Team if you have any visit related questions.

Accepting your offer

Once you’ve received decisions from all the universities you applied to, you’ll need to choose your firm and insurance choices.

If you want to make a decision before hearing from all your choices, you can find advice on the UCAS website. UCAS will tell you the deadline for making your choices. 

After choosing your firm and insurance options, check your offer again. You may still need to meet non-academic conditions.

Changed your mind?

If you want to make Southampton your firm choice after choosing another university:

  • speak to your current firm choice university
  • then call UCAS to confirm your decision
  • check the UCAS website for the 'reply swaps' deadline

If you're having second thoughts about the course you've chosen to study at Southampton, contact our Admissions Team to discuss your options.

After your exams or assessments

We’re here to guide you through your results day and help you plan your next steps with confidence.

Before the main UK results days in August, there are UCAS results embargo periods. During these times, universities receive exam results early. This helps them prepare and decide on applicant outcomes before the official results days.

During the embargo:

  • the applicant portal on UCAS will not be updated
  • the advisor portal on UCAS will not be updated
  • universities and colleges cannot discuss an applicants’ individual status with them, or with an adviser

Because of these strict rules, the University cannot discuss the outcome of any application that includes qualifications covered by the embargo.

If your place has been confirmed and you’ve met all the course requirements, you can request to defer your place. You will need to email admissions@southampton.ac.uk, and:

  • explain why you want to defer your place
  • describe how you’ll benefit from the experience during your deferral year

For some degree programmes, such as those that have limited places available, it may not be possible to defer an offer of a place.

You cannot defer your place if you're applying through Clearing.

You can find more information in our Admissions Policy.

On the UK's main results day in mid-August, we'll email every applicant holding a firm or insurance offer with Southampton. The email will explain whether we can confirm your place. You can check your offer on UCAS Hub. 

What happens next

 

  • You've met all your conditions - your offer will change to unconditional and your place at the university is confirmed.
  • You haven’t provided all the evidence needed to meet your offer conditions - your offer will stay conditional. Please email the missing documents to admissions@southampton.ac.uk as soon as possible.
  • Your results do not meet the level required for the course - if we cannot offer you an alternative, your application status will show as ‘rejected’.

If you won't be available around results day, set up a nominated contact on the UCAS website so we can talk to them on your behalf. 

If your circumstances have changed, please email admissions@southampton.ac.uk as soon as possible.

UCAS sends most UK qualification results to us securely, so you usually don’t need to send your results directly. However, if you’re taking an international qualification or completing a foundation year, you’ll likely need to email your results to admissions@southampton.ac.uk.

  • Southampton is your firm choice - If you have a conditional offer, your status will show as Conditional firm (CF). Once you meet the conditions of your offer, it will change to Unconditional firm (UF).
  • Southampton is your insurance choice - If you meet our offer conditions, and your firm choice does not accept you, we will automatically become your first choice.

Once your place is confirmed, we’ll send you welcome instructions with everything you need to know before starting your course in September.

If your place isn’t confirmed after you've received your results, and you're unsure why, contact us at admissions@southampton.ac.uk.

If you are not a British citizen, an Irish national, or you do not have another type of UK immigration permission, you may need to apply for a visa.

To apply for a Student visa, you will need a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number.

When you hold an unconditional firm, or unconditional accepted, offer with us we’ll send you information on how to submit a CAS request.

If you want to study certain subjects in the UK, you may also need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate. This applies if you need a visa, whatever type, unless you are from an exempt nationality.

Find out more about ATAS.

If you’ve received an offer but haven't met all the conditions, you may still be considered for your chosen course. 

Whether we can confirm your place depends on how other applicants have performed and the spaces available on the course. If we can’t offer you your original course, we’ll look for suitable alternatives and offer you a place on one of these instead.

Appeals, re-marks and resits

 

If you’re getting a re-mark or appealing your grades, you should let us know which subjects are affected. You can submit this information using a form on our Clearing webpage in August, after you get your results.

If you are resitting your subjects, you can apply again next year. We accept resits for all subjects except Medicine, which has specific restrictions. Visit the Medicine course pages to read their Selection Policy and find out more. 

 

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