Changes and amendments
You can make most changes online – though there are restrictions once decisions and replies have been made. This is to ensure fairness to both applicants and providers, and to maintain integrity of the rules that govern the scheme.
When can you make changes?
You can make some changes before or after you've made decisions – and even after an applicant has replied to their offers.
Before you've made an initial decision
To offer a different course, point of entry or year of entry
It's good practice to contact the applicant to advise why the change is being made, but their agreement isn't necessary.
The change(s) should be included in your decision – and should be made by the relevant RBD date.
To request a different course, point of entry or year of entry
If you agree, the relevant changes can be made in your decision – which should be made by the relevant RBD date.
If you don't agree, you can either make an offer for the original course, point of entry or year of entry the applicant applied to or – with the applicant’s agreement – or you can withdraw the application entering the withdrawal code W1 ‘Withdrawn at your request’.
If applicants want to apply to a different provider instead
The applicant can substitute their choices within 14 calendar days of the application being submitted.
Substitutions outside of this time are only allowed in exceptional circumstances. You should withdraw the applicant – who must then ask their referee to write to the Customer Experience Centre at UCAS, outlining the reasons as to why a substitution is being requested.
The decision will be fed back to the applicant.
The last date a choice can be substituted is 30 June.
After you've entered a decision
To amend the offer
To change the course, year of entry or point of entry:
- Contact the applicant to get their agreement.
- Then alter the course, point of entry or year of entry with an amended decision.
- Aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
To change the conditions of a conditional offer, or add them to an unconditional offer:
- These should be rare and can only be processed with the applicant’s permission.
- It's only possible to make this change by contacting the Customer Success Team.
- Aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
To reject an unconditional applicant
These types of changes should rarely need to be made, and can only be processed with the applicant’s permission.
It is only possible to make this change by contacting the Customer Success Team.
You should aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD, or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
To make an offer to an applicant you rejected
If you agree, you can alter the course, point of entry or year of entry with an amended decision – for either a conditional or an unconditional offer.
You should aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
If applicants want a different course, year or point of entry
If you want to make an offer, you can make a conditional or unconditional offer with an amended decision.
This should be done before the applicant’s DBD date. Depending on when the decision is amended, the applicant’s DBD date may change so they have longer to reply.
If applicants want to be considered by you again
If you're reducing or removing a condition (i.e. if the applicant has met part of the offer conditions) – this amendment can be processed without permission from the applicant.
If you're increasing or adding offer conditions – this type of change should rarely need to be made, and can only be made with the applicant’s permission.
Changes must be made through the Customer Success Team.
You can alter the course, point of entry or year of entry with an amended decision transaction.
You should aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
If applicants want to apply to a different provider instead
The applicant can substitute their choices within 14 calendar days of the application being submitted.
If decisions have already been entered, they will need to call our Customer Experience Centre as it will not be possible to substitute their choice.
Substitutions outside of this time are only allowed in exceptional circumstances. You should inform the applicant they must ask their referee to email customer support at c5@ucas.ac.uk outlining the reasons as to why a substitution is being requested. The decision will be fed back to the applicant by the referee.
If they applied to a discontinued course, the applicant will be able to substitute the course.
The last date a choice can be substituted is 30 June.
Summary of possible changes before an applicant has replied
Status can be changed by provider to:
| Applicant’s status at provider |
REJ (Rejection) |
W (Withdraw) |
C (Offer conditions amended) |
U (Offer) |
C + Changed date, course, point or year of entry |
U + Changed date, course, point or year of entry |
F (Full) |
INV (Invitation) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | N/A |
| C | Yes b | Yes a | Yes c | Yes d | Yes c | Yes c | No | No |
| U | No e | Yes a | No e | Yes g | No e | Yes c | No | No |
| F | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| REJ | N/A | No | Yes d | Yes d | Yes d | Yes d | No | Yes |
| W | No | N/A | Yes d | Yes d | Yes d | Yes d | No | No |
Key:
|
a
|
If an applicant requests, they can decline, but can be withdrawn (e.g. if they don’t want to wait for other choices). The provider might withdraw an offer if an applicant has been found to have omitted key information or provided fraudulent information. Please contact the Customer Success Team for advice. |
d | You do not have to contact the applicant; they will automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision. |
| b | If the applicant’s situation has changed significantly, for example, their exam results are different. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision. |
e | If the applicant’s situation has changed significantly, contact the Customer Success Team for advice. |
| c | At the applicant’s request or if a change is necessary. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision. |
f | Reason for rejection. Optional. Amended decision. |
| g | To add non-academic conditions. |
After the applicant has made their replies
To amend the course, year or point of entry
For an unconditional firm applicant:
- This type of change should only be made in exceptional circumstances for valid reasons.
- If you require guidance on what's considered a valid reason, please contact the Customer Success Team.
- You must obtain the applicant’s agreement. Once obtained use a Confirmation amendment.
For an unconditional insurance applicant:
- This type of change should usually only be made at the applicant’s request – and only if the applicant is not placed at their firm choice (in which case the insurance choice will become their firm).
- The change can only be made with the applicant’s permission, and processed only once the applicant is UF.
For a conditional firm or insurance applicant:
- You must obtain the applicant’s agreement.
- Once obtained use an amended decision up to 23 July 2024 (21 July in 2023).
- After this date all changes must be actioned as part of Confirmation decisions.
To add conditions to an unconditional offer
These types of changes should rarely need to be made, and can only be processed with the applicant’s permission. It's only possible to make this change by contacting the Customer Success Team.
You should aim to make the changes before the relevant RBD or DBD date if the applicant has no outstanding decisions.
To reject an applicant with an offer
If the applicant is holding an unconditional offer and you now want to reject them, contact our Customer Success Team for advice. Changes should only be made with the applicant’s permission.
If the applicant is holding a conditional offer and you want to reject them for a reason not connected to the conditions of their offer, contact our Customer Success Team. Changes should only be made with the applicant’s permission.
You should aim to make the changes by 23 July 2024 (21 July in 2023). After this date all changes must be actioned as part of Confirmation decisions.
If applicants want to amend the course, year or point of entry
For unconditional firm applicants:
- If you agree, use a Confirmation amendment.
For unconditional insurance applicants:
- If you agree, a change can only be processed if the applicant is not placed at their firm choice.
- A Confirmation amendment can be processed once the applicant is UF.
For conditional firm or insurance applicants:
- Use an amended decision up to 23 July 2024 (21 July in 2023).
- After this date all changes must be actioned as part of Confirmation decisions. (Change at Confirmation.)
If applicants have accepted an offer but no longer want it
For reasons related to consumer law, applicants have the chance to change their replies once during the 14 day period after they have replied to their offers.
Or they can substitute their choices within 14 calendar days of the application being submitted if they want to apply to a different provider instead.
- Substitutions outside of this time are only allowed in exceptional circumstances.
- You should withdraw the applicant who then ask their referee to write to the Customer Experience Centre at UCAS to explain their substitution request.
- The decision will be fed back to the applicant.
Summary of possible changes after an applicant has replied
Status can be changed by provider to:
| Applicant’s status at provider |
REJ (Rejection) |
W (Withdraw) |
C (Offer conditions amended) |
U (Offer) |
C + Changed date, course, point or year of entry |
U + Changed date, course, point or year of entry |
F (Full) |
INV (Invitation) |
DCF (Delayed Confirmation) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF | Yes a | Yes b | Yes b | Yes c | Yes b | Yes d | No | No | Yes i |
| CI | Yes a | Yes b | Yes b | Yes c | Yes b | Yes d | No | No | No |
| CD | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| UF | No e | Yes f | No e | No | No | Yes g | No | No | No |
| UI | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| UD | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| F | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| REJ | Yes h | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| W | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| DCF | Yes a | No | No | Yes c | No | Yes d | No | No | No |
Key:
| a | Provider has received information showing non-fulfilment of conditions. Confirmation decision. | e | The applicant’s situation has changed significantly. Contact the Customer Success Team for advice. |
| b | With applicant’s agreement or at the applicant’s request. Amended decision. | f | The applicant wants to withdraw completely from the scheme. UF withdrawal. |
| c | You have received information showing fulfilment of conditions. Confirmation decision. | g | With the applicant’s agreement or at the applicant’s request. Confirmation amendment. |
| d | The applicant has not met the conditions of the offer and provider wants to offer an alternative course, campus or point, year of entry. | h | Reason for rejection. Optional. |
| i | The applicant has outstanding conditions to fulfil beyond the Confirmation RBD. |
For applicants who have:
An invitation (INV)
Providers can:
- reject the applicant (REJ)
- withdraw the applicant (W)
- amend offer conditions (C)
- make offer unconditional (U)
- change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry for a conditional offer (C +)
- change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry for an unconditional offer (U +)
Providers can't say the course is full (F).
A conditional offer (C)
Providers can:
- reject the applicant (REJ) – if their situation has changed significantly, e.g. their exam results are different. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision
- withdraw the applicant (W) – if an applicant requests, they can decline, but can be withdrawn (e.g. if they don’t want to wait for other choices). The provider might withdraw an offer if an applicant has been found to have omitted key information or provided fraudulent information. Please contact the Customer Success Team for advice
- amend offer conditions (C) – at the applicant’s request or if a change is necessary. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision
- make offer unconditional (U) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – at the applicant’s request or if a change is necessary. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision
- make the offer unconditional and change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry (U +) – at the applicant’s request or if a change is necessary. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision
Providers can't:
- say the course is full (F)
- send the applicant an invitation (INV)
An unconditional offer (U)
Providers can:
- withdraw the applicant (W) – if an applicant requests, they can decline, but can be withdrawn (e.g. if they don’t want to wait for other choices). The provider might withdraw an offer if an applicant has been found to have omitted key information or provided fraudulent information. Please contact the Customer Success Team for advice
- make changes to the unconditional offer (U) – to add non-academic-conditions
- change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry (U +) – at the applicant’s request or if a change is necessary. You must advise the applicant of the change first. Amended decision
Providers can't:
- reject the applicant (REJ) – but if the applicant’s situation has changed significantly, contact the Customer Success Team for advice
- make offer conditional (C) – but if the applicant’s situation has changed significantly, contact the Customer Success Team for advice
- make offer conditional and change the date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – but if the applicant’s situation has changed significantly, contact the Customer Success Team for advice
- say the course is full (F)
- send the applicant an invitation (INV)
Applied to a course that's full (F)
Providers can:
- make a conditional offer (C)
- make an unconditional offer (U)
- make a conditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +)
- make an unconditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +)
- send the applicant an invitation (INV)
Providers can't:
- reject the applicant (REJ)
- withdraw the applicant (W)
Been rejected (REJ)
Providers can:
- make a conditional offer (C) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make an unconditional offer (U) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make a conditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make an unconditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- send the applicant an invitation (INV)
Providers can't:
- withdraw the applicant (W)
- say the course is full (F)
Been withdrawn (W)
Providers can:
- make a conditional offer (C) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make an unconditional offer (U) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make a conditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
- make an unconditional offer with a different date, course, point of entry or year of entry (C +) – you don't have to contact the applicant – they'll automatically be notified of the change. Amended decision
Providers can't:
- reject the applicant (REJ)
- say the course is full (F)
- send the applicant an invitation (INV)
When can applicants add further choices?
They can add up to five in total by 30 June. If they've made any replies they'd have to remove them first. If they paid the reduced fee to apply to just one choice, they'd need to pay the additional fee.
What if courses are no longer available?
If courses are archived, don't achieve validation or are exchanged with another provider, you should inform applicants as soon as possible and offer alternatives.
Archived courses
There may be legal consequences
You should review your terms and conditions carefully and consider taking your own independent legal advice before deciding to archive a course. And although we provide a procedure for archiving courses, we're not liable for any consequences of doing so.
You should offer alternatives if possible
Is there an alternative course at your provider?
- If there are obvious alternatives with entry conditions the applicant can meet, send them the details and ask them to indicate in writing if they'd like to receive a changed course offer.
- If the applicant needs further consideration – e.g. an interview – ask them if they want to be considered for that course. If yes you can change the course offer.
- If there are a number of alternative options – or the applicant is interested in other subjects – encourage them to discuss their options with you.
Is there an alternative course at another provider?
- The applicant should discuss their options with their teacher or adviser.
- They should look on the UCAS search tool for available courses they're eligible for.
- Try to help the applicant as much as possible, as places on alternative courses may be limited.
- For the substitution to be processed, your course must be archived in the collection tool.
- Advise the applicant to phone our Customer Experience Centre to substitute the choice.
If they're a deferred applicant:
- The only option is to completely withdraw (CWD) the application and submit an RPA for the new course, if the applicant meets the conditions and has agreed to the changes. The applicant will be made unconditional firm (UF) automatically.
- Otherwise they need to completely withdraw (CWD) and reapply for the current application year.
- So let them know if a course is no longer running as soon as possible.
Or you or they can withdraw the choice
Applicants may request this – or it may be as a result of them not responding to your communications.
- You can process this as choice decision with the relevant withdrawal code 4 ‘Course withdrawn and no alternative requested’.
- Or the applicant can do this in their application, or by phoning our Customer Experience Centre.
Update archived courses in the UCAS collection tool
If a course is no longer being offered, you should mark it as ‘closed to applications’ and ‘not published’ in the course option field.
The course should then be ‘archived’. You can view your archived courses in the course management section, by clicking the ‘Filter courses’ option and selecting ‘Show archived results’ from the viewing options menu.
Please refer to our collection tool support guide for help with course management. You can also contact our Data Collection Team.
Courses should be marked as ‘subject to validation’ in the collection tool's outcome qualification section. Applicants should be informed in their offer details, and once validated, you must update the subject validation field to ‘No’ in the collection tool, and ensure the status is set to ‘open for application’. If the course doesn't get validated, you should offer the applicant an alternative course.
If you merge with another provider or exchange a course with them, let our Customer Success Team know as soon as possible. You'll need to redirect the application to the new provider and write to the applicant to explain the situation. You'll need to update course options in the collection tool and applicant records within your own provider too.
Can they change replies after then?
If 14 days have elapsed since their initial replies or reply changes were recorded, they need to ask the providers they want to move from and to for permission to change their replies. They should also contact our Customer Experience Centre to explain their intention.
Contact our Customer Success Team so your agreement to change the reply can be recorded. Changes will only be made once we've received permission from all the affected providers.
The reason is that this prevents the applicant making a reply swap or from using Extra. If you need further guidance contact the Customer Success Team.
What if a conditional applicant changes their mind?
If an applicant holding a conditional firm offer makes it clear that they have no intention of attending the course you should not reject them before exam results are known. The rejection may force the applicant to unexpectedly become firm with their insurance choice who may not be willing or able to accommodate them.
You should wait for their results and either reject them if they haven’t met the conditions, or confirm the place if they have, and then release them into Clearing.
PRE-APPROVED REPLY SWAPS CAN SPEED THINGS UP
We'll be running a pre-approved reply swap service for the 2024 cycle – from 5 February until the final date for amended decisions, 25 July 2024.
If providers opt in, applicants won't need your permission for us to action a change, and you won't need to inform the Customer Success Team.
If you opt in to the scheme, you'll be able to identify up to 20 individual courses where your approval is still required – in case you need to manage student numbers more closely in these areas. With course codes we can exclude all campus and start date options assigned to that specific course code.
Contact our Customer Success Team if you either decide to opt out or you want to amend your approved course list (we make weekly changes to our database of courses/providers).
If they haven't opted in or they've excluded the relevant course, changes will only be made once all the required permissions are received.
Withdrawals
Applicants can completely withdraw their whole application from the scheme at any time, or by calling the Customer Success Team.
Applicants holding a deferred place from a previous cycle will need your permission to completely withdraw their application. You can use the Confirmation withdrawal to do so. If they want to apply elsewhere, they'll need to submit a new application in the current cycle.
What if they want to be reinstated?
It may be possible to reinstate a completely withdrawn application depending on their status. Based on the applicant’s status at the time of the complete withdrawal (CWD) request, here's what they can do.
It depends whether they
Are holding no offers – REF, INV, REJ or W at all choices
Our Customer Experience Centre can reinstate the application. Provider permission is not required.
Any INV decisions will be set back to REF.
If reinstated after 30 June, any choices that are REF or INV will be withdrawn.
The applicant should contact the provider(s) to let them know their application has been reinstated.
Applicants who have not used all five choices can add new ones until 30 June.
Have received some offers but didn't reply
Our Customer Experience Centre can reinstate the application. Provider permission is not required.
Any unconditional or conditional offers will be withdrawn straightaway. The applicant will need to contact the provider to discuss if they will reconsider them. The provider is not obliged to give the applicant an offer.
Applicants who have not used all five choices can add new ones until 30 June.
Have had all their offers declined
Our Customer Experience Centre can reinstate the application. Provider permission is not required.
If the applicant wants to change their replies, remove replies to add a choice, or use Extra or Clearing, they must obtain the relevant provider’s permission.
Have replied to their offers – UF, CF/CI, CF/UI
Our Customer Experience Centre can reinstate the application, but provider permission is required from the firm choice and, if applicable, the insurance choice.
The application will be reinstated once all permissions have been received from the provider(s) and recorded by the Customer Success Team.
If the applicant wants to change their replies, remove replies to add a choice, or use Extra or Clearing, they must obtain the relevant provider’s permission.
Are UF as a result of a Confirmation decision
Our Customer Experience Centre can reinstate the application, but provider permission is required from the firm choice and, if applicable, the insurance choice.
If the applicant wants to apply elsewhere, they'll need to discuss this with the provider who can release them into Clearing. They won't be able to add choices or use Extra.