UCAS - Adjustment

A quick guide to Adjustment

Adjustment was introduced for 2009 entry to allow applicants who have met and exceeded the conditions of their conditional firm offer and have been accepted on that course to be eligible to enter an Adjustment period, to allow them to find a course at a different institution while still holding their confirmed place. Applicants who enter Adjustment, but do not find a new institution, keep their place at their original firm choice institution.

To be eligible to use Adjustment applicants must have:

results that have met and exceeded the conditions of their conditional firm (CF) choice;

and

had their offer confirmed

and

paid the full application fee.

If they have paid the single application fee and want to use Adjustment, they will be able to pay an additional £11 when they 'register' to use Adjustment.

The Adjustment period

Adjustment is available from A level results day (15 August for 2013) until 31 August.
An applicant's individual Adjustment period starts when their conditional firm (CF) choice changes to unconditional firm (UF) or 15 August, whichever is the later.
From this time they have a maximum of five calendar days (five 24 hour periods) to register and secure an alternative course, if they decide this is what they want to do.

If they want to try to find an alternative course they must register to use Adjustment so universities and colleges can view their application.

The Track 'Choices' page shows when an applicant's Adjustment period ends. If they become eligible to use Adjustment less than five calendar days before 31 August, they will have the remaining time before then to find an alternative place and have it confirmed by the HEI. For example, if they become UF on 29 August they will have three days to use the process.

Eligibility

Only those applicants who have met and exceeded their original CF offer are eligible to use Adjustment. It is your responsibility to check that an applicant is eligible.

Applicants are not eligible to use Adjustment if:

they are confirmed (UF) at their firm choice but did not exceed the conditions of the offer
they have a confirmed place on a changed course offer
their original offer was unconditional.

Applicants are not allowed to adjust their insurance choice.

The following examples of meeting and exceeding the conditions of the original CF offer illustrate whether or not an applicant can be considered for an Adjustment place.

Meeting and exceeding - eligible to be considered for an Adjustment place:
Offer	Actual grades
A level AAB	A level AAA
A level CCD (C in Chemistry)	A level ACD (A in Chemistry)
A level ABB (B in History)	A level ABB (A in History)
SQA Higher BCC	SQA Higher ABC
SQA Higher BBC (C in Chemistry)	SQA Higher ABC (B in Chemistry)
SQA Adv Higher D in Italian	SQA Adv Higher B in Italian
International Baccalaureate total 30 points including 5 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry	International Baccalaureate total 30 points including 6 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in Mathematics and Grades BCC	Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in Mathematics and Grades ABC

Not meeting and exceeding - not eligible to be considered for an Adjustment place:
Offer	Actual grades
A level CCD (C in Chemistry)	A level BCD (D in Chemistry)
A level AA	A level AAA
A level BBC	A level BBCC
SQA Higher CCC	SQA Higher BCD
240 Tariff points overall including C in French	280 Tariff points overall including D in French
BTEC National Diploma MMM	BTEC National Diploma MMP
International Baccalaureate total 30 points including 5 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry	International Baccalaureate total 32 points including 4 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in Mathematics and Grades BCC	Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade C in Mathematics and Grades ACC

How the process works

Applicant registers on Track to use Adjustment
Applicant contacts institutions to find another place
HEI checks the conditions of their UF offer in web-link
HEI must make sure that applicant understands the implications of changing their choice at this stage
HEI offers the applicant a place
Applicant accepts offer at one institution
HEI must be satisfied that applicant has accepted their offer
HEI enters an Adjustment Acceptance in web-link (UF) at choice 6
UCAS sends applicant Confirmation letter (AS12)
Applicant views acceptance on Track and responds to AS12 if required.

To help applicants use Adjustment, you should be open and transparent on your website about:

potential Adjustment vacancies; particularly as there are no published Adjustment vacancy lists
how accommodation is allocated
bursary and scholarship entitlement.

web-link management lists

To help you identify applicants that you may lose or gain in Adjustment, web-link will has three management lists:

UF Registered for Adjustment - Applicants may move
Adjustment accept - Applicants have moved to you
Adjustment placed elsewhere - Applicants have moved away from you

Advice for applicants before registering for Adjustment

Applicants are encouraged to consider some important points before they register:

Adjustment is entirely optional, and not everyone will want to try to find an alternative place. Nothing really beats the careful research to find the right courses for the original application.
There is no guarantee there will be any vacancies for the course the applicant wants to be considered for, and it is very unlikely that the most competitive courses will have any places available. The vacancy situation may change on a daily basis when other applicants adjust their place or are accepted through Confirmation and Clearing. Alternatively deferred entry or re-applying in 2013 may be the better option.
Before deciding to use Adjustment, applicants must also consider non-academic arrangements such as accommodation and student finance. These may be difficult to secure or there may be delays if changes are made at short notice. They should contact their UF choice if they are concerned about arrangements that they have made with them.
When the applicant has registered to use Adjustment, the university or college that is contacted can check that their results are higher than those needed to meet the conditions of their firm choice. Examples illustrating what exceeding means are provided.
Applicants can contact more than one university or college to discuss vacancies, but will only receive one formal decision through Adjustment.
If an applicant has not received an alternative offer through UCAS before the Adjustment period ends, they will revert back to their original place.

Further information

If you have any queries about Adjustment please contact the UCAS HEI Team on 0844 984 1111 or email hei_team@ucas.ac.uk.

SPA has produced some considerations for a Confirmation Action Plan (PDF) - this link will take you to the SPA website.