After you apply
Once you have completed your application (and your school/college/referee have completed their sections) you submit your form to UCAS. UCAS will then send all your information to us to consider. The admissions staff will look at your application and decide whether to offer you a place. If we offer you a place, you will receive a letter from the appropriate Faculty Admissions Office (details below right). This letter will explain the offer and any conditions attached (eg the need to achieve certain grades in your examinations). You will also receive a letter from UCAS telling you of our decision.
If you receive an offer from us it will normally be in one of the following formats:
A 'conditional offer' – we will give you a place provided you meet certain conditions (usually achieving certain A level results or a certain number of UCAS tariff points).
An 'unconditional offer' – we will give you a place without any conditions attached, because you already have the necessary qualifications.
Interviews
In some subject areas, the Admissions Tutor will interview before s/he makes you an offer. If we do wish to call you for interview, you will receive a letter from the department you have applied to. After you have been interviewed, the Admissions Tutor will decide whether to offer you a place (conditional or unconditional). A small number of programmes may make you an offer of a place prior to interview but will include, as a condition, pasing the interview itself.
Departmental Visit Days
If you are made an offer of a place at Reading, you will normally be given the chance to come and visit us on a Departmental Visit Day before deciding whether to accept it. The Visit Days generally take place between December and March every year and typically include a chance to meet with staff and students of your chosen department, a campus/departmental tour to see our facilities and a chance to receive more detail about the programme you have applied for.
The Visit Days give you an ideal opportunity to get a real sense of the department and programme that you are interested in. You do not need to come along to the Visit Day but we would encourage you to come along as our students tell us it is really useful in making a final decision.
Choosing Reading
Once you have heard from all of the universities you have applied for, UCAS will ask you to narrow down your original choices to your two final choices – a 'Firm' choice and an 'Insurance' choice. UCAS will send you information as to when you need to do this but you should bear in mind that it is often different for each person so your friends may get told before or after you!
You will need to inform UCAS which two courses you are choosing. Once you have done this, all your other offers will be rejected on your behalf by UCAS.
Confirmation of your Place
Most applicants receive Conditional offers and if they achieve these grades, they will gain automatic acceptance onto their programme of choice. As such, post examinations results, there is no need to contact us.
If you did not get the grades we asked you to get in your examinations, please get in touch with us as soon as possible.
Accommodation
We place an extremely high proportion of our new students in Halls and typically around 95% of those applying for accommodation, get a place. If you are a new full time undergraduate, Reading is your Firm choice, and you apply for accommodation by 1 August, we will guarantee to offer you a single study bedroom in Halls. If Reading is your Insurance choice, we will also usually be able to offer you accommodation. However, in such cases there is no absolute guarantee and the choice of Hall is likely to be more restricted.
When you firmly accept your offer of admission to the University through UCAS, our Admissions staff will automatically send you details of how to apply online for accommodation. This is done through our applicant web portal. Once you have applied for a Halls place, you will then be able to track the progress of your application online and see which Hall has been allocated. Please note that we will not make a final, 'formal' offer of a Hall place until your academic offer goes unconditional.
