Event report - Linking London Discussion Forum: All Change for the UCAS Application Deadline?
On 21 November, Linking London held a Discussion Forum on UCAS’ consultation on when the UCAS application deadline for applicants should be. The Forum provided an opportunity for partners to look at the options in more details and for colleagues to be able to share and discuss their views.
Delegates heard from Carolyn Mindos, Principal Admissions Reform Lead at UCAS, who set the scene explaining why the deadline needs to be reviewed now, what’s changed, the 3 key options and how they each might impact on students. The 3 options are:
- Maintain current January ECD (last Wednesday in January) and May RBD (second Wednesday in May)
- Move January ECD to second Wednesday in January, and RBD to first Wednesday in May
- Move January ECD before Christmas e.g. third Wednesday in December, and RBD to last Wednesday in April.
We then went into breakout groups to discuss the pros and cons of each option on learners, HE providers and careers advisers. Discussion included:
- Majority in favour of the later January deadline (option 1) in order to give students more time. From a provider perspective, they find students have more focus around Christmas. A con was this could clash with the exams and can create a bottleneck as students take a more relaxed approach to completing their application.
- Option 2, pros are if students find out earlier, they have more time to better prepare and focus on their exams.
- A consensus against the earlier deadline (option 3), as it doesn’t give enough time for both providers and students. Particularly for Access students.
The event closed with thanking everyone for their contributions throughout the morning.
Recording
Click here to view the recording from the day.
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