The 15 October
deadline for Oxbridge applications and applications for medicine, dentistry and
veterinary medicine/science is almost upon us! As I’m sure your tutors and
advisers will have mentioned more than a couple of times, this is an important
deadline and late applications are rarely considered by the universities. So, to
make sure there’s no last-minute drama, I’ve gathered together the sort of
issues that usually cause applications to be submitted late and given some
advice on how to prevent them happening to you!
Know your login details for Apply
Make sure you know your login details, as you'll need
to log in to Apply to send your application. Use the login reminder service on
the Apply page if you're not sure. You can also find guidance on login problems
for Apply here
Send it earlier if you can
The deadline is midnight on 15 October (23:59 UK time)
but try to send it sooner in case you experience any problems, eg internet
connection issues, payment problems.
Be prepared for any payment issues
You must pay for your application before it can be
sent to UCAS. If you enter
invalid payment details five times, you will be locked out from making any more
payment attempts - if this
happens, you'll need to call us so send your application early just in case.
You can get some guidance on payment problems here
If you're applying through a school or college,
they'll need time to review your application
Your tutor needs time to complete the reference
section and check and approve your application before they send it to UCAS. If
they spot any errors, they'll send your application back to you to amend. If
this happens, you need to change it and send it back to them, so that they can
send it to us. It may not happen, but it's good to allow time for this just in
case. Simply sending it to your school or college before the deadline won't
count as sending it on time; it has to be received by UCAS.
You need a reference before you can send your application
to us
However you request a reference (whether you're
applying independently or through a school or college), you still need to have
a reference attached to your application before it can be sent to UCAS.
If you're applying independently, allow enough time
for your referee to read the instructions, write and attach the reference, and
confirm that it has been completed. A red tick will appear next to the
'reference' link in Apply once it's complete. This means you can complete the
rest of the application and send it to us.
If you're applying through a school or college, send your
application to them early to allow them time to do write the reference and
carry out the other checks before the deadline.
If you've agreed with the universities that a reference
is not required - check the information on the reference page to see what to do.