After you’ve applied to Bedfordshire

Four students walking outside the Postgraduate Centre

Waiting to find out if you have a place at your chosen University is always a nail-biting time, which is why we work hard to get our decision out to you as quickly as possible. Here, we go through the process step by step so you know what’s going on behind the scenes and are ready to take action as soon as your offer letter arrives.

Why do our current students recommend the University of Bedfordshire?


If you applied through UCAS, you will also get their welcome email allowing you to sign into your UCAS Hub and follow your application’s progress.

Watch out that our emails don't go into your junk mail; add us to your safe list so you always receive our updates.


We consider your application in full including your qualifications, personal statement, references and even the effort you’ve put into completing it. So it’s important that the information you supply is accurate and written with care.

We are usually able to make a decision using the information you have given. However, we may have to contact you to request supporting information to help us make a decision. Reasons to contact you include:

  • you require a fee assessment
  • you already hold qualifications that meet the entry requirements
  • we need copies of qualification certificates
  • part of your application is incomplete

Our preferred method of communication is email so please check your email account regularly (including your junk mail folder) to make sure you are not missing any important messages from us.

If we ask you for further information, please provide it within the deadline given in our email so we can keep moving on your application – no-one wants there to be a delay.


For some of our courses, an interview is part of the application process. In other cases, we may need to interview all course applicants before confirming our decisions – for instance, if there is only a limited number of places on a popular course. If this is the case, it will be mentioned in your interview invitation.

Interview invitations are sent via email from Admissions but – if you applied through UCAS - you will be able to see if you have been shortlisted to interview on your UCAS Hub; you can also respond to your interview invitation via UCAS.

Your interview invitation will let you know what to bring with you and advise if you need to do anything to prepare. Make sure you check the date, location and address of your interview carefully. We have several campuses so don’t go to the wrong one! It has happened…

Please email admission@beds.ac.uk if you have special support needs, requests for your interview or queries.

Check out our tips to get you ready for your interview


Our Admissions team aim to make decisions as soon as possible and work within the deadline set by UCAS.

If you’ve been successful, Admissions will send you a letter via post to confirm that an offer has been made, outlining the offer details. If you attended an interview, we aim to confirm its outcome as soon as possible after the selection event has taken place.

If you applied via UCAS, you can also check your UCAS Hub for the offer details. For those who attended an interview, we will notify UCAS of the decision in the first instance so check your UCAS Hub

Your offer letter will also ask you to read and agree to our terms and conditions of admittance. Please familiarise yourself with these before accepting our offer.

There are two types of offer:

Conditional, which means you still have conditions to meet to have your place with us confirmed – most usually, getting the tariff points you need on A-level results' day. For those who applied through UCAS, UCAS will send the results to us; those who applied direct to the University for part-time undergraduate courses, you should send us your results promptly via email, with copies following in the post. If you have a conditional offer, you need to meet the conditions of your offer by 31 August.

Unconditional - the place is yours to accept as you have met all the entry criteria.

If we are not able to offer you a place on this course, we may have a similar course that would suit you. Check out our courses and, if you are postgraduate or applying for a part-time course, get in touch with admission@beds.ac.uk to talk through your options.

If you applied through UCAS and have not received any offers (or any offers you wish to accept), you can add another (sixth) choice through UCAS Extra. Simply find a Bedfordshire course you are interested in, contact us to find out if we have vacancies then add it as your ‘Extra’ choice.


If you applied through UCAS and want to accept your offer of a place at Bedfordshire, you must do it via UCAS.

You can make the following replies to the offer/s you’ve received:

Firm acceptance This makes Bedfordshire your first choice. Depending on the conditions in your offer, it may be an unconditional firm (which means the place is yours) or a conditional firm (which means you have conditions to meet before the place is yours).

Insurance acceptance This makes Bedfordshire your back-up place if you don’t go on to meet the conditions for your firm acceptance. Your insurance choice can be conditional or unconditional; if it is an unconditional insurance choice, you have an assured place if you fail to qualify for your conditional firm choice.

Decline If you have more than two offers, you need to decline those you don’t choose.


After you have accepted an offer – particularly an unconditional offer - at the University of Bedfordshire, you should:


In most cases, for undergraduates, this will happen in mid-August, when A-level results come out. If you applied through UCAS, they will send your results to us; if you applied directly, you need to send them to us.

Once the Admissions team has received your results, we should be able to make a final decision on your application.

If you have met or exceeded the conditions of your offer, we will be able to accept you onto your course.

If you have just missed the conditions of your offer, we may still be able to confirm your place but there may be a delay.

If you have not achieved at least two A-level passes (or equivalent), we will not be able to offer you a place. In this case, you have the option to try and find another place through Clearing: your first step should be to check your status on UCAS Hub

You must meet all the conditions of your offer by 31 August of your year of entry.


Once you have had your place on your course confirmed, you will receive details from the University regarding registering for your course, usually a few weeks before the course is due to start.

You complete part of your registration online and also have access to your induction timetable via the University of Bedfordshire website.

Accommodation

Confirm your booking or apply for accommodation if you haven’t already done so.

Student finance

Once you have accepted an offer, you can then fully complete an application for undergraduate student finance or a postgraduate loan. Try to update your details as early as you can to ensure your money is in the bank for the start of your course.

Student support

If you have any special needs, physical disabilities, learning or mental health issues, contact our Support Services team in advance of starting your course so they can start to put in place measures to ensure your first weeks go smoothly. If you think you may have cashflow issues in the early days or weeks, talk to our Student Money Advice team.

Scholarships, bursaries and other funding

We don’t want money worries to stop you enjoying your time at the University of Bedfordshire so we offer a wide range of scholarships and bursaries

Once you've ticked all the above boxes, it's time to relax and get ready for your big Welcome Week with lots of Freshers’ activities, welcome events and settling-in support. We can’t wait to meet you!

Take a closer look at our accommodation at Luton

Quick links

telephone

University switchboard
During office hours
(Monday-Friday 08:30-17:00)
+44 (0)1234 400 400

Outside office hours
(Campus Watch)
+44 (0)1582 74 39 89

email

Admissions
admission@beds.ac.uk

International office
international@beds.ac.uk

Student support
sid@beds.ac.uk

Registration
sid@beds.ac.uk