Deferred entry: A student’s guide

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Deferred entry is one of those topics that don’t quite get talked about enough. Due to this, students may not even know that it’s an option for them or how to go about it. That’s exactly how I felt when I was applying to university, but not quite knowing anything about it or how to do it. That’s why this article is just for, so you don’t have to feel lost or confused about deferred entry if you want to explore this option.

In short, deferred entry is simply delaying your entry to university. This will generally be only by one academic year. Deferring entry can allow you to take a year out to work, travel, or simply take time for yourself.

In this article, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about deferred entry, such as what it is, how it works, whether or not it’s a good idea and so much more.

What is deferred entry?

As fancy as it sounds, “deferred” simply means delayed until a later time. You can read more about this definition by checking out this page from Cambridge Dictionary.

In this case, entry simply refers to the entry to university. So, if we put that together, deferred entry is very simply starting university after a delayed period.

In most cases, this delay will generally be by one academic year, but it may be possible to do a longer period also. We’ll explore this later in the article.

Do all universities accept deferred entry?

Now that we’ve cleared up what deferred entry is, we now need to look at whether it will actually be possible for you. This will primarily depend on which university you go to and which course you study.

Not all universities will accept deferred entry. Some universities will only accept it for certain courses. Most universities will display their policy on deferred entry on their website, or you can contact them directly to check.

It’s important to note that as there are so many different universities, they can all have completely different policies. Some may outright reject it, while others, such as the University of Edinburgh for postgraduate study, may have a very limited number of deferred places. Because of this they give priority to students in specific situations. You can learn more about this on the University of Edinburgh’s website..

Moreover, some universities may not accept deferred entry for specific course. For example, at the University of Oxford, students applying for Fine Art, History of Art and graduate-entry Medicine won’t be able to apply for deferred entry.

Other universities may also have a specific set of degree programmes where they don’t accept deferred entry. You can learn more about this from this page of the University of Oxford’s website.

Also, some universities may fully accept deferred entry, but may require you to do something, such as write to them, or simply put what you plan to do in your gap year in your application. You can learn more about this on this page of the Newcastle University website.

How do you do deferred entry?

There are a few different ways to do deferred entry. The way that you defer entry will be based on when you choose to defer.

Deferring entry is possible when you apply initially, after you have submitted your UCAS application or in some circumstances, even after you have received your A-Level results. Remember that the university/ universities that you’re applying for may not accept deferred entry past a certain stage. Because of this you must be certain on the universities stance before applying.

If you defer entry in your initial application, the process is fairly simple. When applying through UCAS, you will have to choose a start point, this is still the case even if you’re simply applying for the next year.

You would select from the two options available (for the next academic year or for 1-year deferred entry) and pick when you want to start. From here, UCAS recommends that you include in your personal statement why you’re taking a year out.

This is the option I went with and I would recommend doing this if possible as it makes it a lot less stressful. Also, if you can, I would try tying your reasons in with the rest of your personal statement, such as you plan to travel or work, how this links to what you’ve already or the course you want to study.

Alternatively, if you apply after your UCAS application has already gone through, you will need to contact the university directly. Please note that if you’ve already received an offer or your results, you may need to reapply as it will be a late deferral.

You can learn more about all this by checking out on the UCAS website.

Can you do Clearing for deferred entry?

Clearing is very simply how universities fill up any of the spare places that they still have on their degree programmes. To use Clearing, students need to not be holding any offers, meaning that they will either not have met the conditions for their offers, not have received any offers, or have rejected the ones they did receive.

Clearing can only be done in the same year, meaning that if you accept a place through Clearing, you won’t be able to defer this entry. After all, Clearing is there to fill up the pre-existing spare places, which there wouldn’t be for the following admission cycle.

Also, you can’t be holding any offer from a university if you apply through Clearing. This means that if you defer your entry and get offered a place, you won’t be able to keep this offer if you wish to apply through Clearing as well, even if you are applying for the same year as you wish to attend.

Although, Clearing is done directly through the university, it is possible to apply through Clearing without having done a UCAS application in that year. This is done through Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA), although not all universities will allow you to do this.

Thus, it may be best to still set up a UCAS account within the current admission cycle when applying through Clearing. For more on this, have a look at this article from The Complete University Guide.

You can learn more about deferred entry and Clearing in this guide on the UCAS website.  

If you would like to learn more about UCAS Clearing, have a look at this Think Student article which will take you through all the details you need.

Can you defer university for two years?

As we’ve already established, deferred entry is simply delaying starting university, typically by a year. So, you might be wondering if it would even be possible to defer entry by more than one year.

Generally, no. It won’t be possible to defer entry by more than one year, although you can confirm with the university by contacting them directly if this isn’t explicitly stated on their website.

However, if you wish to take two or more years out, you can always apply later on. As you won’t be applying through your sixth form or college, the process will be slightly different, although it will still be done through UCAS.

You can find out more about applying on the UCAS website.

Is deferring uni a good idea?

Like most things, deferring entry to university comes with its pros and cons. Let’s look at this a bit closer.

The pros of deferred entry:

  • Taking a year out allows you to work and save up money.
  • Taking a year out allows you to do an internship.
  • Taking a year out allows you to travel.
  • Taking a year out may be needed if you have health or personal issues that will make going to university difficult.
  • Taking a year out may be useful if you’re not ready to go to university.

In these cases, deferring uni may be a great idea as it gives you time to do what you want or need to do. Plus, if you’re working or travelling, you can build up a range of skills and qualities that can help you at university or even further in the future.

On the other hand, there are a range of drawbacks that can come with deferring entry. These are discussed below.

The cons of deferred entry:

  • Deferring entry means that you’ll be a year behind the people you went to school with.
  • Deferring entry means that you’ve had a year without studying, which can make it harder to get back into it.
  • Deferring entry may not be permitted for by your preferred university or course.

Considering this, you may feel that deferring entry is a bad idea as it may be more difficult when you begin university.

For some more pros and cons, you can have a look at this article by Unifrog.

Having deferred entry myself, I would say that if you have an actual reason for why you want to defer entry then, yes, it will most likely be a good idea for you.

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