UCAS timeline for 2027 entry
For students starting university in autumn 2027. Dates are from UCAS and JCQ, checked 8 September 2026. We re-check every September and January.
The dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Summer term, Year 12 (2026) | Research, open days, first draft of the personal statement answers. UCAS applications for 2027 entry can be started from spring 2026 and submitted from September |
| Thursday 15 October 2026, 18:00 | Deadline for Oxford, Cambridge, and most medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses |
| Wednesday 13 January 2027, 18:00 | Equal-consideration deadline for all other courses |
| Thursday 25 February 2027 | UCAS Extra opens: applicants holding no offers can add a choice |
| May 2027 | Universities’ decision deadline for January applicants; then the applicant’s reply deadline in early June |
| Monday 10 May to Tuesday 22 June 2027 | A Level exams (JCQ common timetable), contingency day 23 June |
| Wednesday 30 June 2027 | Last date to apply through the main scheme |
| Friday 2 July 2027 | Clearing opens |
| Thursday 12 August 2027 | A Level results day; places confirmed, Clearing in full swing |
The personal statement
For 2026 entry onwards it is three questions rather than a single essay: why this course or subject; how qualifications and studies have prepared you; what else you have done outside education and why it is useful. The total is 4,000 characters including spaces, with at least 350 characters per answer. One statement goes to all five choices, so it is about the subject, not a university.
Firm, insurance, results
When all decisions are in, the student replies: one firm choice and one insurance choice, or decline everything and use Extra or Clearing. On 12 August UCAS updates first thing: the firm place is confirmed if its conditions are met; otherwise the insurance; otherwise Clearing, where universities list the courses with spaces.
What Fincho does
Every date above sits on the student’s exam roadmap with its source and a countdown. Reminders arrive in the app two weeks and two days ahead. The shortlist keeps each course’s published requirements beside the student’s predicted grades, and the three personal statement answers can be drafted with Pip asking the questions an admissions tutor would.
Common questions
- Can you apply after 13 January 2027?
- Yes, until 30 June 2027, but universities need not consider late applications equally and popular courses may be full. From 2 July applications go through Clearing.
- How many choices are there?
- Five courses on one application, all seeing the same personal statement. Medicine, dentistry and veterinary applicants may use four of the five for those subjects.
- When do offers arrive?
- Any time from a few weeks after applying until the spring. Universities that receive an application by the January deadline reply by a date UCAS sets in May; applicants then reply by early June.
Sources
- UCAS: when to apply (2027 entry deadlines) checked 8 September 2026
- UCAS: the personal statement for 2026 entry onwards (three questions) checked 7 September 2026
- 2027 entry: Clearing opens (UCAS events) checked 8 September 2026
- JCQ key dates, June 2027 examination series checked 6 September 2026
Updated 7 September 2026. Dates change every year; we re-check them each September and January.