After you apply

• How do we decide?

  The responsibility for making decisions on applications rests with Admissions in coordination with individual academic Schools. We take into consideration not only the current and expected grades of your qualifications but also the context in which you achieved (or will achieve) them.

  We also rely heavily on your personal statement and referee's report as the University does not interview for most undergraduate programmes. Applicants for Medicine, our Supported Pathways programmes, BA International Honours and some part-time courses may be invited to an interview.

  The decision-making process for students applying to transfer to the University is slightly different and is outlined in the transfer students section below.

  You can read more about the decision-making process in our admissions policy.

• Pre-payment

  Pre-payments

  If you are an applicant who meets the following criteria, you are required to pay a pre-payment fee of £2,000 GBP against your first year’s tuition fee:

  • You have applied to an undergraduate programme.
  • You have a fees status of ‘Overseas’ in your offer letter.

  For applicants who require a Student visa, the total amount paid to date including any pre-payment made will be displayed on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), where appropriate.

  Conditional offer

  • If you firmly accept a conditional offer, you are only required to make a pre-payment once you have met your conditions of offer.
  • Please do not make a pre-payment on conditional offers.
  • All the conditions given in your offer must be satisfied before your admission can be finalised.
  • Pre-payment must be made within four weeks of you meeting your stated conditions.

  Unconditional offer

  • If you firmly accept an unconditional offer, you are required to make a pre-payment upon acceptance.
  • Pre-payment must be made within four weeks of you accepting your offer.
  • If you received your unconditional offer by 9 March 2023, you are required to make your pre-payment by 7 April 2023 or your offer may be rescinded. 
  • If a pre-payment remains unpaid, this will be taken as an indication that you no longer wish to take up the offer of a place at St Andrews. 

  Insurance choice

  • If you accept a conditional or an unconditional offer as your insurance choice through UCAS, you are not expected to make a pre-payment.
  • Pre-payments are required only if your status changes from ‘insurance’ to ‘unconditional firm’.

  Deferred offers

  • If you hold an unconditional offer and have been granted deferred entry, you will be required to make a pre-payment before your deferred entry will be confirmed.
  • If you hold a conditional offer and have been granted deferred entry, you will be required to make a pre-payment once you have met your conditions of offer before your deferred entry will be confirmed.
  • If you hold a conditional offer and have been granted deferred entry, but cannot meet your conditions of offer in the year of application, you will still be required to make a pre-payment before your deferred entry will be confirmed.

  If a pre-payment remains unpaid, this will be taken as an indication that you no longer wish to take up the offer of a place at St Andrews.

  You will not receive your entrant email and the CAS process if applicable will not commence until pre-payment has been made.

  How to make a pre-payment

  • Pay by international bank transfer (preferred method of payment)
  • Pay by credit or debit card

  After you have accepted your offer and made the pre-payment

  • You have a 14-day statutory cancellation period during which you can change your mind about accepting an offer to study at the University.
  • Once you have accepted your place at St Andrews and have made the pre-payment, your offer will become a binding agreement with the University of St Andrews. Terms and conditions of study of this agreement will remain in force for the duration of your studies at the University. Should the University require to make changes that materially affect your programme, the University will inform you.

  Pre-payment refunds

  Pre-payments will only be refunded under the following circumstances:

  • Medical reasons for withdrawal evidenced by supporting documentation.
  • You are not successful in securing a UK student visa.
  • It is within the 14-day statutory cancellation period during which you can change your mind about accepting an offer to study at the University.

  Pre-payments are not refunded under any other circumstances. To request a refund, you will need to complete the Pre-payment refund form. The request must be submitted along with any evidence to myapplication@st-andrews.ac.uk within 30 days of the official start date of your programme which is listed on your offer letter. 

  International study abroad programme students

  If you are an incoming international study abroad programme student, you are not required to make a pre-payment to accept your offer.

• Different types of offer

  There are three responses that you may receive in response to your application. These are:

  • An unconditional offer

    This means that you have already achieved the required grades or qualifications to study your selected course, and your offer has been confirmed.

  • A conditional offer

    This means that you have not yet achieved the required grades or qualifications to study your selected course, and your offer will only be confirmed if you obtain the stated grades or qualifications. If you meet the conditions of our offer, we will confirm your place, but if you do not achieve the stated grades or qualifications, your offer may be withdrawn.

  • We are unable to offer you a place

    Regrettably, we receive many more applications from well-qualified applicants than we have places to offer, and we have been unable to offer you a place on your selected course.

  If you have yet to complete your school-leaving exams, you should not expect an unconditional offer. Conditional offers are made to suitable applicants on the condition that they achieve certain grades or qualifications, at which point their offer will be confirmed.

  Should any of the details used when deciding to make an offer change, for example the fee status, we will re-evaluate the offer made, and reserve the right to withdraw it.

• If you applied through UCAS

  The University of St Andrews considers each application on its merits, and we are required to consider equally all applications received from by our deadline (see applying through UCAS). However, the University receives many more applications from well-qualified applicants than there are places to offer.

  Once we have made a decision, you will be notified by UCAS and any conditions will be visible by using UCAS Hub.

  Details of application deadlines for St Andrews can be found on our applying through UCAS page.

  If you have been offered a place at the University of St Andrews, you should use UCAS to alert us whether you wish to accept our offer. You can hold up to two offers at UCAS: one firm choice and a second insurance choice. The offer you confirm as your firm choice is effectively your first choice of university, whilst your insurance offer is your second choice in case you do not meet the required grades to fulfil the entrance requirements of your firm choice. Due to this, your insurance choice will often be an offer asking for lower grades than your firm choice.

  If you wish to accept an offer from the University, you are required to indicate whether it is your firm or your insurance choice through  UCAS Hub. You must respond to your UCAS offer in good time to ensure that your place is not declined by default.

  You may wish to decline our offer, in which case you should also respond through  UCAS Hub.

• International students

  Please note guidance in this section was updated on 9 September 2022.

  If you are an international applicant who applied through a direct application or the Common Application, you will receive a response to your application through the St Andrews applicant portal. This will outline your offer and conditions. You should respond to your offer in the portal, indicating whether or not you will be taking up your place.

  If you have any questions relating to your offer, please email myapplication@st-andrews.ac.uk. You must reply to your offer by the following:

  • 07 April 2023, if you have an offer by 9 March 2023
  • If you get an offer between 10 March 2023 and 2 June 2023, you will have 28 calendar days to respond.
  • If you get an offer after 3 June 2023, you will have 14 calendar days to respond.

• Visa and CAS process

  International students may require a visa in order to live and study in the UK. Whether or not you need a visa, and the type of visa you will require, depends on your nationality and the length of the course you are planning to undertake.

  In order to apply for a Student visa, you will require a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) number, which is issued by the University. You cannot apply for your Student visa until you have received your CAS number. The CAS number will not be issued before March.

  You are unable to apply for your visa more than six months before the start of term.
   
  Further information relating to the CAS process, and who to contact if you have any questions, can be found on our support for international students web pages.

• Transfer students

  If you have applied to the University as a transfer student, consideration of your application will involve several stages:

  1. Investigation of whether your grades and qualifications meet our entry criteria.
  2. Analysis of the subjects you have taken or are currently taking, ensuring the content matches subjects offered at the University in first year or second year.
  3. Reading of your personal statement and references.
  4. Ensuring that you have the necessary qualifications to study your second subject.

  Once we have made a decision on your application, we will inform you via UCAS Hub. If we are able to offer you a place, we will specify the point of entry (first year, second year or third year) in our offer to you.

• Students aged 16-18

  If you receive an offer to study at St Andrews and you will be aged between 16-18 when you join the University, we will contact you to let you know that you need to read the Young Student Information Sheet and complete the Authorisation Form (see below). The completed form should be returned to myapplication@st-andrews.ac.uk.

  Young Student Information Sheet and Authorisation Form (Word)

• Direct entry into second year

  If you have applied for a course which accepts students directly into second year, you should expect a response in the usual manner for your chosen application process – for example, if you applied through UCAS, your offer would be sent through UCAS Hub.

  Usually, any offer for a course which accepts direct entry into second year will state the year of entry, but opportunities for entering second year of appropriate courses can also be discussed with your academic adviser when you arrive.

• Study abroad students at St Andrews

  If you have successfully applied to join the University of St Andrews on a year or semester abroad, view the Collaborations and Study Abroad section.