Deadline for applications
If you are looking to apply this year you should submit your application by 18:00 GMT on Wednesday 26 January 2022. This is the equal consideration deadline set by UCAS, and we guarantee everyone who applies by this deadline will be considered on a fair and equal basis.
While some courses may remain open after this deadline, we expect many will have sufficient applications to close. Where a course is closed there will be no opportunity to consider late applications.
Clearing
At Bath, we always prioritise students who apply during the main cycle ahead of those seeking places in Clearing. The number of spaces available in Clearing is usually extremely limited, and you should expect our more popular courses will not have vacancies. If you are interested in studying with us, you should aim to make a normal application by 26 January.
Competition for places
We know that applying for university is a big step, and students are often anxious about their chances of securing an offer at their preferred choice. The popularity of each degree varies from year to year, and it is impossible for us to predict with certainty how many students may choose to apply until we have received all applications.
This year we expect to see strong interest in our undergraduate courses. Many of our degrees have been over-subscribed in recent years, and to make sure every student who joins us has the opportunity for the experience they expect, the number of places available on each course is limited. We also anticipate exam results will be very strong this year, and so we must be mindful that we do not make more offers to students than we can reasonably manage.
We plan our offer-making very carefully to make sure our decisions are as fair as possible for all applicants. Building on our successful approach in 2021, we expect to make a more limited number of offers in our more popular subjects to manage student numbers.
Because of this, competition for places may be higher than previous years on some of our degrees. While we cannot predict application numbers (and therefore competition) in advance, courses that have been most popular over a sustained period include courses in Architecture, Business and Management, Computer Science, Economics, Mechanical Engineering (including Aerospace Engineering), Psychology and Sport.
We expect the number of students holding deferred places for 2022 entry from the 2021 admissions cycle to be no more than a normal year. We, therefore, do not expect the number of deferred students to change the competitiveness of admissions this year.
At Bath, we very much value the individual academic potential of our applicants and therefore will provide additional consideration at the offer making stage to applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds who meet our contextual admissions criteria.
When you can expect to hear from us
Our first priority is to make sure everyone who applies is treated fairly. In some cases, this means we cannot make decisions for applicants until we have considered everyone who applies by UCAS’ equal consideration deadline (26 January 2022). You may not receive a decision until later in 2022.
We know waiting can be stressful and we will aim to make a decision for you as quickly as possible. To give you plenty of time to consider your final UCAS decisions, you can expect to have a decision no later than the end of April 2022.
GCSE and IGCSE results from 2020 and 2021
The majority of students applying this year will have achieved their GCSE results in 2020, where grades were awarded based on teacher assessments rather than exams.
We know that some students may be disappointed with the grades they received in these circumstances. Nevertheless, overall attainment in GCSEs awarded in 2020 was slightly stronger than in previous years, and our approach to GCSE performance remains largely the same for 2022 applicants.
In particular, we do not anticipate we will be more flexible than usual with minimum GCSE requirements (which typically apply in English and sometimes Maths). The entry requirements sections of our courses pages indicate the circumstances where we might have some flexibility.
However, we do appreciate some students’ performance at GCSE will have been affected by specific circumstances that are both beyond their control and more significant than the general disruption faced by most students. If you do have mitigating circumstances, we encourage you to read our published guidance and fill in our mitigating circumstances form so we can consider them carefully alongside your application.
Personal statements and work experience
If you are looking to make a new application for a degree, you might be concerned about how COVID-19 has affected your opportunities and the impact on your personal statement. The most important thing to remember is that disruption because of the pandemic has been widespread, and we understand that some opportunities may have been more limited as a result of recent circumstances.
We appreciate that opportunities to gain relevant work experience have been especially limited. For almost all of our degrees, work experience is not an essential requirement and in a normal year, most applicants will not have relevant work or voluntary experience. This is especially true in fields such as engineering, science and social sciences. If you do not have work experience you do not need to worry - focus on the positive experiences you do have in your personal statement.
You might have individual circumstances arising from the pandemic that you want universities to know about, such as greater disruption to your home or school life. Our advice is to not include too much about this in your personal statement. Our approach to school disruption, and when and how you should let us know is covered in the following section.
We also publish more general guidance to help you with writing your personal statement.
Exams and awards in 2022
At this stage, we expect (and hope) exams will be able to take place around the world as normal this year. Nevertheless, we are prepared for any disruption to exams and assessments, as we have seen in the last two years, and will be making offers on that understanding this year.
If exams are cancelled and replaced with alternative arrangements we expect to consider those results as normal, just as we have in 2020 and 2021. We will publish more guidance here on how we are approaching this if necessary.
This approach also applies to qualifications studied outside the UK. We will be closely monitoring the situation in schools and colleges across the world and are ready to make adjustments where we believe they are needed.
Disruption for schools and colleges
We appreciate schools and colleges have been severely disrupted since the pandemic began. We know the impact of this disruption will have varied between students (and their schools), but we also recognise the continuing challenges faced by all students across the world.
As in any year, we will also be mindful of these challenges when assessing final results this year should overall performance be lower than normal, although based on previous years we are optimistic this will not be necessary.
While we understand that this has been a very unsettling time, please be reassured we consider school closures and general disruption automatically as part of our normal consideration. However, we appreciate you may experience individual specific circumstances (related or unrelated to COVID-19) which may affect your ability to perform academically. If you do have mitigating circumstances, we encourage you to read our published guidance and fill in our mitigating circumstances form so we can consider them carefully alongside your application.
Flexibility with missed offers
It is normal for students to have concerns about their final grades and how they might be considered if they do not meet their offer conditions. We appreciate that as most students will have experienced disruption to their studies in recent years, you may be particularly concerned about this as you make your applications.
We anticipate exam results will be very strong in 2022, as they have been in recent years. Every year we aim to have some space to be flexible and consider some students who narrowly miss their offers (for example, by one or sometimes two A level grades). In particular, we prioritise these students over considering new students through Clearing.
Nevertheless, given the increased competition for many of our degrees and the likelihood that exam grades will be very high, we cannot promise we will have the capacity to be flexible on all courses. While it is likely our flexibility will be more limited on our most competitive courses, the unpredictability of course popularity and final grades means we cannot say how much capacity we will have to be flexible on any degree until we have final results in August.
As with offer-making, we provide additional consideration at the near-miss stage for applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds who meet our contextual admissions criteria. As any decisions are limited by the spaces available, we cannot guarantee you will be successful on this basis.
Applying with final grades from 2021
We understand students’ plans change, and some students prefer to wait and apply for university once they know their final grades. If you received grades last year that were much stronger than you originally expected, you may be considering reapplying this year with new options.
Applying with achieved grades that meet our typical offer
You are welcome to apply for any of our degrees with achieved grades that meet our typical offer for that course.
We consider every application we receive carefully. Mindful of the need to be fair to future cohorts, we need to limit the number of offers available for students applying with achieved grades. On our more competitive courses, this means there is no guarantee you will receive an offer just because you meet our typical requirements.
We expect competition for places to be as strong (if not stronger) in 2022, and as such, if you have been unsuccessful when applying for a course in the past you may find your chance of securing a place will not increase even if your final grades exceeded your predictions.
If you are a student who has previously received an offer from us, we cannot guarantee this will be the case if you reapply. Your application will be considered afresh alongside all other applicants.
Applying with achieved grades that do not meet our typical offer
Given the competition for places, we are generally unable to consider students who apply to us with grades that do not meet our typical offer. We recommend you consider any resit opportunities that may be available if you wish to apply in this situation.
Applying with resit exams
We welcome applicants planning to resit some or all of their qualifications to improve their grades. If you apply in this situation, you can expect to be considered on the same basis as other students receiving their final result in 2022.
We accept A level grades achieved across multiple years (i.e. we do not require all grades to be achieved in the same year). You, therefore, do not need to resit any grades which you are happy with providing you can meet our overall requirements with those you are resitting.
Applying for entry to Year 2 (or above)
Due to improved A level and IB Diploma results, we accepted a larger number of students than normal in 2021. Given these higher numbers in our current Year 1, we do not have space to consider additional students joining Year 2 in 2022 directly from other universities.
If you are studying elsewhere and wish to be considered for study at the University of Bath, you are welcome to apply for entry into Year 1. You will be considered on the grades you achieved before you entered your current university, alongside those applying with achieved grades who have not enrolled elsewhere. We may also consider your performance at your current university for evidence of your continued engagement with your education.