Your application may have been unsuccessful because of high levels of competition in some subjects areas in the College of Science and Engineering. Competitive degree programmes We receive many more applications than we have places available for the following: all informatics programmesall mathematics programmessome engineering programmes We have also seen a significant increase in the number of applicants who have achieved, or who are predicted to achieve, top grades. This means even applicants who meet or exceed the entry requirements are often unsuccessful. We understand this will be disappointing for you and wanted to give you some more information on our selection and decision-making process to help you understand why. How we make decisions Our selection process is not an automated process. Reaching a decision involves a very thorough assessment of all relevant factors, which includes: academic profilepersonal statementreferencesecondary school performance or progression information We consider all applicants who have met, or who are on track to meet, our entry requirements. However, it is not uncommon for you to require a perfect, or near perfect, academic profile in order to receive an offer. Sometimes we can only select and make offers to people with grades above the top of the standard range. This means one of the most common reasons why applications are unsuccessful is simply that other applications were stronger. Why your application may have been unsuccessful There are several reasons why your application to one of our informatics, mathematics or engineering programmes was not successful: Your academic qualifications are not as strong as other applicants. We usually require applicants to achieve a perfect or near perfect academic profile. If your predicted grades are expressed as a range, for example 80 to 85%, we would use the lower grade in our selection process.Your mathematics background is not as strong as other applicants. It is important that applicants entering degrees in informatics, mathematics and engineering have a strong background in mathematics.The level of qualification you achieved was at a lower level than other applicants. For example, if you apply with AP exams, we will give you preference for achieving AP Calculus BC compared to applicants who only achieve AP Calculus AB.Your mathematics qualifications are more than two years old, or your other qualifications are more than three years old.You already have a degree.Your application was incomplete by the UCAS deadline. Requesting feedback We would like to emphasise that these are very competitive degree programmes. We recognise that many unsuccessful applicants are extremely academically talented and we regret if we have been unable to make you an offer. If you feel that none of the reasons on this page apply to you, or you still do not understand why your application has been unsuccessful, you can request further feedback. What to do if your application was unsuccessful This article was published on 2025-10-07
