Ucas has extended its equal consideration deadline for all applicants by two weeks to Friday 29 January.
The decision follows the third national lockdown in the UK and the announcement yesterday (5 January) that this year’s A-levels and GCSEs would not be going ahead.
Following recent announcements, UCAS has made the decision to extend the equal consideration deadline for all applicants.
The new deadline is now Friday 29 January at 18:00 (UK time) pic.twitter.com/ciPS1ynDIs
— UCAS (@ucas_online) January 5, 2021
“This decision to extend the deadline is about relieving the pressure not only on students, but also teachers and advisers,” said Ucas CEO Claire Marchant.
“We know from our data that most students have started their Ucas application and we expect to see the number of applications submitted by 29 January exceed the numbers we have seen in previous years.
“This additional time also allows schools and colleges to support students who do not have readily available access to digital devices to make arrangements to put the finishing touches to their application.
“We strongly advise students not to leave their application to the last minute and if they are ready to submit now to go ahead and do this.
“Whilst students can in many cases apply to courses after the January deadline, applying before 29 January means your application is considered equally against all other students that submit to the deadline and gives students the best possible chance of maximising the numbers of offers they receive.”
Responding to the news from Ucas, universities minister Michelle Donelan said:
“We recognise this is a difficult time for young people and it is vital students applying to university in 2021/22 have this extra time to carefully consider their applications and make the best choices for their future.
“We want to level up opportunity for all students, whether that is through university, an apprenticeship or technical education.”
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