Accepting or Deferring - Applicants Not Requiring a Visa

Understanding your Offer

Carefully read your Offer Letter in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions- Postgraduate.

Your Offer will be either Unconditional or Conditional. If the offer is conditional you can still accept it, however we will need evidence that you have met the conditions of the offer no less than four weeks before the programme start date.

Making your decision

If your Offer is Unconditional or if you are confident you will be able to satisfy the conditions of the Offer if it is Conditional, you can go ahead and accept your offer of admission by clicking on the link in your Offer Letter and accessing your online Acceptance Form.

However, if you have submitted more than one application and are awaiting further decisions please wait until you have received all your decisions before proceeding.

If you are not confident you will be able to satisfy the conditions of your offer for the start date you have applied for, we can defer your Offer of admission to allow you time to do this, please submit your defer request through this online Form.

Accepting your offer through the Online Acceptance Form Link in your Cover Letter

• Please complete the first section of the form. You will need the Applicant ID and Application Number detailed in your Offer Letter and also the full name of the Degree for which you have received an Offer.

• Please advise us that you don’t need a Student Visa to study in the UK.

• Please complete the second section of the form, this section of the form is where you need to advise us how you are going to fund your studies.

You have five options to choose from:

• Funding source has not been confirmed yet

NOTE: If you select this box you must update us when your funding source has been confirmed through our online Financial Guarantee Form

• I accept full personal responsibility for meeting Tuition Fees and maintenance expenses for the duration of my studies.

• My Tuition Fees will be paid by an Official Sponsoring body.

NOTE: You are required to upload the letter of confirmation from your sponsor however if you are unable to provide us this document during the acceptance process you can upload these at a later date to the Applicant Portal. We will need copies of these documents before we can clear you for entry so please ensure these are uploaded as soon as possible. Please also note that if your sponsor fails to meet the cost of your Tuition Fees, you will become personally responsible for this.

• I am a member of staff of the University of Aberdeen, I have completed the staff application process and I have obtained the permission of my Head of School or nominee for full or part payment of tuition fees by the School.

NOTE: We will need your STAFF ID number

• I am a student and have been awarded funding by my prospective School at the University of Aberdeen.

NOTE: We will need the School name and contact details

NOTE: If you need to update your financial information following acceptance of your offer you can do so at any time through our online Financial Guarantee Form and upload supporting documents to the Applicant Portal. However we will need up to date copies of these documents before we can clear you for entry so please ensure these are uploaded no later than four weeks before the programme start date.

Submit the Form

Submit the form to the Admissions Team, you will receive an acknowledgement to the email address you used to submit the form, please retain this.

Satisfying conditions of your Offer

If the offer of admission is conditional we will need you to upload the documents required to meet the conditions as soon as these are available to the Applicant Portal.

If you need to improve your English language, the University’s Language Centre offers a range of Pre-sessional and Academic English Preparation courses to help applicants achieved the required standard in English language. Please visit the Language Centre website for more information. Alternatively, the University accepts several different English Language Tests all of which are listed Here.

Clearing

We will be able to clear you for entry when you have:

• Accepted your offer by completing your Acceptance Form
• Completed your Financial Guarantee Form
• Uploaded evidence to confirm that you have satisfied all the conditions of entry to the Applicant Portal

Clearing takes place over a number of months prior to commencement date. Your Joining Papers, will be sent to the email address which was used to make your application.

Note: We cannot send the Joining Papers out any earlier than 6 months before the degree start date

Your Offer will expire after two years or if following your initial entry date the programme is withdrawn or the conditions for entry change.

To request deferring entry, please submit your Defer request through our Postgraduate Taught Deferral Form or Postgraduate Research Deferral Form. On receipt of this form if the programme you have received an Offer for is available for the required entry date we will issue you with a new Offer. Note: Some English Language Tests are only valid for a limited time and deferring your entry date may result in you needing to undertake an additional test.

It is important if you decide to defer that you keep us informed of any changes to your correspondence address by updating your record in the Applicant Portal.

To decline your Offer, please select “I wish to DECLINE the offer of admission” on the online Acceptance Form or email Postgraduate Admissions making sure you include your Applicant ID and Application Number, which are detailed in your Offer Letter. We will acknowledge receipt of your request and withdraw the Offer.

Taught Degrees

For most Taught programmes, the start date detailed in the offer of admission letter is the start of registration week.  It is important to try to arrive during registration week so that you can attend orientation and induction events. 

In most cases, teaching will usually begin on the Monday of the following week but please check the New Students website in the weeks before your programme is due to start for programme-specific information.  

If you arrive later than the start of teaching week you will miss classes and it will be your responsibility to catch up on everything that you have missed. 

In all cases, all students must arrive by the latest state date noted on the Certificate of Acceptance. You will not be admitted after the latest start date.

Research Degrees

For Research degrees, the start date given in the offer of admission letter (or the first working day thereafter) is normally both registration and the start of your studies.

All Students

You must register before you can commence studies and, if appropriate, re-register at the start of each new academic year (in September).