Choosing the right mix of universities for your UCAS application is a bit like playing chess: you need ambition, but you also need a solid defensive plan if you want the best chance of success.
As with the admissions cycle that has just finished, applicants hoping to start university in September 2027 are likely to be in a strong position, with institutions keen to maintain stable student numbers. That is encouraging for anyone preparing an application, but a clear strategy can make the difference between receiving one offer and having several to choose from.
The UK may eventually shift to a more logical admissions model in which universities make offers after students have achieved their grades, rather than relying on predictions. The current system inevitably involves a degree of uncertainty, but for now, understanding how predicted grades work — and how to use them wisely — remains an important part of applying well.
Applications are submitted through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, better known as UCAS, the Cheltenham-based organisation that handles applications for all public universities in the UK.
Applicants can list up to five initial course choices, although they do not all need to be added at the same time. If you are applying to Oxford or Cambridge, for instance, you must meet the earlier October 15 deadline, but you can still add further choices later if you have not finalised all five when sending off your Oxbridge application.
There is no obligation to use all five choices, but with tens of thousands of courses available, it makes little sense not to. Limiting yourself simply reduces your opportunities, and the UCAS application fee is £34.50 whether you apply to one university or the full five.
A sensible approach is to split your five choices into three broad groups:
• Aspirational – courses asking for grades a little above your predictions, but not so far beyond them that an offer becomes unrealistic.
• Realistic – requiring grades that match your predicted grades.
• Insurance – requiring grades that are lower than your predicted grades.
Make sure there’s at least one university in each category for your application.
With tens of thousands of courses to choose from, why not choose five universities to apply to?
If your predicted A-level results are BBB, then an application to a university likely to offer ABB would be regarded as an ‘aspirational’ application – eminently achievable on a good day in the exam hall. But there is a fine line to tread. If predicted grades are CCC, then an application to a course requiring AAA could be deemed foolhardy rather than aspirational and likely to result in rejection – and a wasted application.
If the bulk of your applications are to ‘realistic’ choices, there should be one that acts as an ‘insurance’ in case things do not go to plan. If your predicted grades are BBB at A-level, then a university that is likely to offer something in the range of BBC to CCC would be sensible.
But make sure to pick one that would be an acceptable alternative. Too many applications are wasted on choices that candidates retrospectively say they would never have considered attending had push come to shove.
It pays to have visited all your likely choices of university. While finding the course with the right content and structure is key, do not underestimate the importance of the location. For many students, this is their first time living away from home, so it is helpful to be somewhere that feels comfortable.
Our University Finder tool allows you to refine choices by – among other things – location (big city or smaller town, campus or coastal), type (modern university or Russell Group), size, the educational background of students, competitiveness of entry, sportiness and accommodation prices.
Pay attention to offer rates, which are also detailed in all our university profiles. In our new edition, the number of institutions making offers to virtually all 18-year-olds who apply is growing. There are ten universities (up from six) who made offers to more than 97 per cent of young applicants in September 2025: Arts University Plymouth, London Metropolitan, Royal Agricultural, Soas, Southampton Solent, Hartpury, East London, Aberystwyth, Kent and Derby. And 54 universities (up from 30) made offers to more than 90 per cent of 18-year-old applicants. Include at least one of these universities in your choices and you stand a great chance of getting an offer.
On the other hand, seven (down from nine) made offers to fewer than half of the 18-year-olds who applied, including the London School of Economics, Imperial College London, University College London and St Andrews. Putting down five choices that only include institutions such as these significantly increases the risk of ending up with no offers. Even the most talented candidates would do well to receive ones from all universities in this group, so it is worth shopping around.
Do not underestimate the importance of location; it’s worth paying a visit to all your likely choices of university
There has never been more information available to help applicants align their choices with their predicted grades. Every course page on the UCAS website now contains details of the highest, lowest and most common grades held by accepted students. It also shows the individual course offer rates, allowing applicants to refine their degree choices.
It is also worth checking the terms under which contextual offers are made. These typically reduce the standard offer by between one and three grades, bringing universities and courses that might otherwise have been out of reach into range. Even the most selective and competitive universities now run contextual admissions schemes, which are detailed in our university profiles in the Admissions, teaching and student support sections.
There are strict eligibility criteria that vary from course to course and university to university. They often include living in a postcode with low rates of progression to university; attending a school with below-average academic attainment; coming from a home with a low income; receiving free school meals at some point during secondary school; or being care-experienced or a young carer.
Your application timeline
• Beginning of Year 12 – Start thinking about university: what you want to study, where you might want to do it, and which universities might be a possibility based on your progress and projected grades. Make your first forays on to the UCAS website and use its course search tool.
• Year 12, summer term – Early-bird open days take place towards the end of university summer terms at many institutions. Visit campuses you think you may apply to, ask questions and see if you can envisage yourself living and studying there.
• Year 13, autumn term – The serious work begins on your applications.
UCAS 2027 entry applications cycle
September 1 – Applications open for 2027 admissions. You could have started your application on May 12, although September 1 was the first date you could submit it. But don’t panic if it is not ready; you have plenty of time.
October 1 – Deadline for music applications to conservatoires.
Ask yourself the question: can you envisage yourself living and studying at that university?
October 15 – The first big deadline day. All applications must be submitted by 6pm from students applying to Oxford or Cambridge (you can’t apply to both) and for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science and dentistry. You can add the rest of your university choices that have different deadlines later, with a maximum of five in total.
January 13, 2027 – The ‘equal consideration’ deadline for most courses is 6pm. Universities do not guarantee to consider applications after this date and some popular courses may be full.
February 25 to July 1 – UCAS Extra is open. This allows applicants who have been rejected by, or who have declined offers from, their five original university choices to submit another application.
March 31 – Universities should aim to make decisions on all applications submitted before January 13 by this date.
May 5 – Decision Day One: Applicants must respond by today to all offers from their original application if those decisions were communicated before March 31. Your options are to:
- Register a conditional firm acceptance (your first choice if you meet or exceed your grades)
- Register a conditional insurance acceptance (usually for an offer with lower grades to act as a back-up choice if exam results are below what you expected)
- Decline the offer. You cannot hold more than two offers, so up to three might be declined at this stage
Failure to do one of the above will lead to outstanding offers being declined by default.
May 12 – Deadline for universities to reply to all applications submitted before January 13. If you have not received a reply by today, you have been rejected by default.
June 2 – Decision Day Two: If you received all your offers or rejections from your original five choices on or before May 12, you must reply doing one of the three options outlined above (on May 5) by this date.
June 30 – The final day on which applications can be sent to UCAS to forward on to universities (6pm deadline). Applications made after this date will go into Clearing.
July 2 – Clearing opens to coincide with the release of the first set of exam results (from the International Baccalaureate).
There are several dates at which you must reply to your offers by – and it’s important to keep on top of them
July 14 – Deadline for universities to reply to all applications submitted before June 30. If you have not received a reply by today, you have been rejected by default.
July 21 – Decision Day 3: If you received all your offers or rejections from your original five choices on or before July 14, you must reply doing one of the three options outlined above (on May 5) by this date.
August 10 – Scottish Qualifications Authority results day in Scotland for Advanced Higher, Higher and National 5 exams.
August 12 – A-level, T-level and BTEC results are published on this date. This is when most students find out if they have met the terms of their offer. Clearing, the UCAS service through which universities list courses that still have vacancies, is an option in several scenarios today:
- If your grades fall short of the offer(s) you are holding and your place is not confirmed, then you can enter Clearing in search of an alternative place.
- If your grades exceed expectations and you find that you qualify for a place at a more selective university, you can decline the offer you have met and enter Clearing to ‘trade up’ to a better university.
- You can also apply to university for the first time via Clearing if you have decided late that you want to go and if your grades give you the confidence that your application would now succeed.
October 18 – The final day on which applications can be made through Clearing.
Further information can be found on the UCAS website regarding dates and deadlines and replying to your offers.
