UCAS - Adjustment

The Adjustment process

Each year some applicants pass their exams with better results than expected. And this may mean that some will have not only met the conditions of their firm choice, but will have exceeded them. Adjustment has been introduced for these applicants - it provides an opportunity for them to reconsider where and what to study.

The facts about Adjustment

For your son or daughter to be eligible to use Adjustment:

their results must have met and exceeded the conditions of their conditional firm (CF) choice, and
they need to have paid the full application fee (£23 for 2013).

If your son or daughter has paid the single application fee (£12 for 2013) and wants to use Adjustment, they need to pay an additional £11.

Your son or daughter is 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 cannot adjust their insurance choice.

The Adjustment period

The Adjustment process is available from A level results day (15 August for 2013) until 31 August. If your son or daughter is eligible, their individual Adjustment period starts on 15 August or when their conditional firm (CF) choice changes to unconditional firm (UF), whichever is later. From this time they have a maximum of five calendar days (five 24 hour periods, including Saturdays and Sundays) to register and secure an alternative course, if they decide this is what they want to do.

If your son or daughter wants 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 them when their Adjustment period ends. If they become eligible to use Adjustment less than five calendar days before 31 August, they have the remaining time before then to find an alternative place. For example, if they become unconditional firm on 29 August they will have three days to use the process.

If your son or daughter does not find a suitable place elsewhere they will remain accepted at their original choice.

Before registering to use Adjustment

If your son or daughter is eligible to use Adjustment, there are lots of things they should consider before registering. Adjustment is entirely optional and nothing really beats the careful research they did to find the right courses for them before they made their application.

For more detailed information about using Adjustment, incuding examples of exceeding or not exceeding the conditions of an offer and other important points to think about before registering, please go to the Adjustment pages in the students' section.