Frequently asked questions
Read the most frequently asked questions for applicants applying to Undergraduate degree courses at UCL.
Before you apply
UCL encourages all applicants to apply by the UCAS Equal Consideration deadline of 18:00 (UK time) 15 October 2025 for Medicine, and 14 January 2026 for all other courses. We may remain open to Late or Extra applications, for a limited number of courses. If UCAS shows the message below, we will not consider any Late or Extra applications for this course.
‘This course is not accepting applications at this time. Please contact the provider to find out more.’
Where we are able to consider applications via UCAS Extra or after the Equal Consideration Deadline this will show on the UCAS website.
If the course you are interested in is no longer accepting applications, you are more than welcome to apply for September 2027 entry. Applications would then open in September 2026.
UCL offers two foundation courses:
- Engineering Foundation Year
- Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates
The Engineering Foundation Year is aimed at applicants who have studied at UK state schools and aspire to become an engineer, but do not meet the standard entry requirements for UCL’s undergraduate engineering degrees.
Please be aware that the course content for the Engineering Foundation Year is the same for all specialisms, therefore multiple applications are not advised.
More information about the Engineering Foundation Year can be found on our dedicated webpages.
The Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (International Foundation Year) are for international students whose high school qualifications do not allow direct entry to UCL undergraduate degrees.
Learn more about UCL's Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (International Foundation)
Whether you are wanting to transfer into second year entry or start a new course from year 1, this is all handled internally between both the department you are currently in and the department you are wanting to transfer to.
Contact your degree tutor to discuss the option of an internal transfer. Please see the Change your Programme or Route webpage for further guidance.
We do not consider applications from currently enrolled students via UCAS.
UCL considers transfers into the second year of an undergraduate course for a limited number of courses.
We do not consider entry into year 3 of any of our undergraduate courses. Applications should be made via UCAS by the UCAS equal consideration deadline and include a reference from your current institution.
Please be aware that all applicants for second year entry are required to meet our first-year entrance requirements as detailed in our prospectus. We cannot use first year of study in place of meeting the advertised entry requirements.
If the course you have applied for does not accept year 2 entry, then your application will be considered for year 1 entry automatically.
The personal statement is an important part our assessment of your application. It's your chance to tell us why you want to study a particular course and highlight any skills and experiences that demonstrate your passion for the subject.
You are only able to submit one personal statement, which will be sent to all five of your UCAS choices. We consider the personal statement we receive from UCAS to be final and complete. We cannot consider any revisions or corrections once your personal statement has been submitted to UCAS.
UCL does not typically consider revised or additional personal statements.
UCL does not operate a mitigating circumstances form for undergraduate applicants. We appreciate that exams may have been affected by extenuating circumstances. Special consideration should be discussed with your school or institution and requested to the relevant Examination board for consideration.
UCL will consider the final grades awarded by the awarding body. We do not make changes to course entry requirements in response to mitigating circumstances.
All applicants are required to meet UCL’s English language proficiency requirements. If you have already taken a TOEFL or IELTS English Language proficiency test, we recommend including the registration number in your UCAS application.
You do not need to provide this evidence as part of your UCAS application. This will not affect the assessment of your application. If required, and you receive an offer, it will be conditional on providing evidence of your English Language proficiency at the appropriate level.
You are welcome to submit more than one application to UCL, however please do consider your options carefully as you have a limited number of choices at UCAS.
Please be aware that each course will take up one of your five UCAS choices and more than one application to the same course or department does not increase your chances of admission.
Please also be aware that most courses at UCL don’t accept an additional personal statement.
Some of our courses require additional selection tasks, an admissions test and interviews. Please refer to the detailed information on our webpages – How we assess your application.
UCL considers a small number of Foundation programmes. Please contact us directly for further guidance before you apply. Please pay particular attention to any subject specific requirements for your courses of choice as these will still need to be met.
We will consider your 3 highest grades, including any required or preferred subjects. If you are studying more than three A levels, your offer may be based on the three most relevant subjects for your course.
If you have studied A levels at an accelerated rate, and you have therefore completed this qualification alongside your GCSE level study, we may stipulate the A levels you are currently studying in your offer conditions.
While UCL typically prefers applicants to offer qualifications in line with our advertised requirements, it may be possible to consider your application with a mix of different qualifications.
We accept a mix of A levels and Cambridge Pre-U or a mix of A levels and Advanced Highers for all programmes.
If you are interested in applying to the Engineering Foundation Year, please see more information about the entry requirements below.
We welcome applications from mature students. If you are a mature student and have questions about your eligibility, we encourage you to read our guidance for mature students before applying.
Access UCL is UCL's contextual offer scheme for students from groups that are underrepresented at UCL. Eligible students who are successful in receiving an offer, will receive an offer that is lower than the standard UCL requirements for the programme they have applied for. You can find the eligibility criteria and checker tool on the Access UCL scheme webpage.
Resits are generally considered for most of our courses. Any courses that do not consider resits will outline this on their entry requirement webpages.
Where resits have been attempted more than once, this may put you at a disadvantage due to the competitive nature of admissions for many of our courses.
Please note that we require predicted grades from your referee for all pending qualifications.
Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee acceptance of equivalent grades, as this depends on the competition for places for your course of choice, in the cycle you apply. We would typically require an applicant to meet our requirements in full. For example, if a course requires AAA at A-Level, we may not be able to accept A*AB.
Given the competition for places, we recommend you only apply to courses where you meet or are expected to achieve these requirements.
After you have applied
UCL will request any missing information required to support an application, please do not send information that has not been requested.
If we require any additional documents to process your application, we will contact you by email and ask you to upload them securely to Portico (UCL’s applicant portal).
Information that is required for your application is detailed on the UCAS website and in our After you Apply guide.
UCL may not accept qualifications added to your UCAS application form after it has been submitted. And as such, they may not be accepted for meeting offer conditions. This includes qualifications submitted either as an amendment or additional qualification.
Qualifications data submitted via UCAS must reflect your full academic history and the qualifications you are currently taking.
You can read more about the information required for your application on the UCAS website.
Our degree courses attract a large number of talented and well qualified applicants, and as such we use a 'gathered field' approach in assessing applications. A gathered field allows us to assess all applications in the same fair and consistent manner, whether they are received in October or January (by the UCAS deadline). This means we will need to wait until we have enough comparable applications to make a final decision.
Our degree courses attract a large number of well qualified applicants, so it may be some time before we can give you a final decision. We will process your application as quickly as we can. We appreciate waiting for a university decision can be an anxious time.
It is quite usual for some applicants to hear sooner than others, but this doesn't mean that your application will be unsuccessful if you don't get a quick response from us.
We aim to make our decisions by the end of April but are working hard to send decisions sooner. Please be assured that we will communicate our decision to you as soon as we are able to.
Fee status
UCL will determine your fee status in line with regulations published by the UK government. You can find more information about fee status determination on our website.
Further information is also provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).
Unfortunately, we cannot comment on your fee status until we have received and assessed your application.
If you received an offer, your fee status will be in the offer letter.
If you receive an offer of admission to UCL and believe that your fee status has been incorrectly assessed, you can request a review of the assessment. These requests must be in writing through the contact form and should include details of how you meet the criteria for an alternative fee status.
We aim to provide you with the outcome of your fee status assessment before you need to make your Firm and Insurance decisions. However, in some cases it may not be possible to do this if additional information is required from you to inform our decision. Should further information be required, we’ll email you a Fee Status Questionnaire for you to complete.
UCL offers a range of scholarships and funding opportunities. You can use the UCL scholarships finder to search for awards that you might be eligible for.
Undergraduate Admissions
If you cannot find the information you need in our FAQs or have questions regarding the entry requirements for a course, please contact Undergraduate Admissions.
