After you apply

We recruit students from all educational backgrounds based on merit and their potential to excel. Your application is individually considered to ensure fair admissions. Whether you’re applying for full or part-time study, and across all subjects - we’re committed to making offers in a fair and equal manner.

If we receive your application after the relevant deadlines, we can’t guarantee your application will be considered.

We believe in a diverse student population and welcome applications from those with non-standard qualifications, with prior experiential learning, and from access routes into higher education.

Typical entry requirements are shown on each course page.

When assessing applications we will consider predicted and actual academic achievements, taking into account the subjects studied and the grades. We will check for competence in any specific subject(s) required for particular courses. Some of our courses have a second stage selection process, such as interview or submission of an additional piece of written work. You’ll get details of this on individual course pages.

Volunteering or work experience can be helpful but it’s not a requirement for most courses as we recognise not everyone will have the same opportunities.

See our admissions policy for more information.

We deal with applications as quickly as possible. Our experienced admissions team carefully consider every application to determine whether we think you can succeed on the course you’ve applied for.

How will I hear about an offer?

If you applied via UCAS you’ll receive notification of our decision via UCAS Hub.

If you applied directly to us or through the Common Application you’ll receive an email from us with our decision. You can also see the decision via your My Portal account.

What offer types could I receive?

Unconditional

You’ve met our entry requirements and we’re happy to offer you a place.

Conditional

You’ll need to meet the conditions of your offer before you can study with us. Conditions are normally based on achieving required academic entry criteria or submitting and passing any additional criteria. For most applicants this could be passing current qualifications with certain grades, submitting vital information needed for your applicant or passing a criminal record check (PVG) if you have applied for a course such as Nursing. We want to see you at Stirling - so keep working hard for those results.

Unsuccessful

You haven’t received an offer on this occasion.

If you used all five choices and didn’t receive any offers, you may be able to add another choice in UCAS Extra. If you didn’t use all five, you can add more.

Can’t make an Offer Holder Day?

There are other opportunities to visit us and virtual events, where you can talk to current students and University staff, ask questions and gather further insight into student life.

Applied through UCAS?

Once you’ve received decisions from all your university choices, and made your decision, you’ll need to reply to your offers. UCAS Hub will show your personal deadline for replying to offers.

Firm and insurance choices

You need to decide which offers to accept as your firm choice and insurance choice. If your firm choice is unconditional, the place is yours and this is the course you’ll study. If your offer is conditional, the place is yours if you get the exam results you need or meet the offer conditions.

Your insurance choice is your back-up option if you don’t meet the required grades or conditions of your firm choice.

Remember to respond to your UCAS offer in good time to ensure your place isn’t declined by default. To decline an offer, you should also reply via UCAS.

Find out more about replying to your offers on UCAS.

Students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

Don't forget that we offer a Stirling Welcome Scholarship which provides a £1,000 cash award to all students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland who enrol as a student on a course delivered at the University’s Stirling campus, to help with costs when settling in. 

Applied directly or via Common Application?

If you’re an international student and have applied direct or via the Common Application, you’ll need to respond to your offer directly to us via your My Portal account, or by email.

All the waiting is done and you’ll find out if you’ve got the results you need.

Do I need to send you my results?

You shouldn’t need to send us your results if they are in the list below. We normally receive an electronic copy of your results automatically through UCAS for:

• SQA Highers and/or Advanced Highers
• GCE A-levels  (if studied at a UK-based school or college)
• Irish Leaving Certificate
• Welsh Baccalaureate
• BTEC qualifications
• International Baccalaureate (IB)

For BTEC and IB qualifications there may be instances where you have to send your results to us.

You do need to send us your results if you’ve studied a different qualification such as:

• HNC/HND
• Cambridge International Examinations (CIE)
• Advanced Diploma and Progression Diploma

If you have different qualifications, or are studying outside the UK, you need to send us your results directly. Please send us an official copy of your results to our Admissions team as soon as you receive them, using your My Portal account, or by email to admissions@stir.ac.uk

If we don’t receive your results by 31^st August, we're under no obligation to accept you onto a course.

What to do next

If you meet all your offer conditions we’ll send confirmation to UCAS of your place and you’ll be notified via UCAS Hub. If you have applied directly or via the Common Application you’ll be notified directly by our Admissions team.

We’ll then send you a letter with your next steps, including important information on the online enrolment process, registering for your course modules and practical arrangements for the start of semester.

Go to our Welcome site to get lots of helpful information about Stirling and what you need to think about before coming to university.

Grades lower than expected?

If you do not meet your offer conditions, we’ll review your application again before making a final decision. We’ll look at your personal statement, reference, past academic performance, and any other relevant information that we’ve been made aware of. We aim to make a final decision in time for Results Day.

If you don’t receive an offer from us, we’ll let UCAS know. UCAS then let your second choice university consider your exam results.

UCAS Extra

If you've used all five of your choices, and aren’t holding any offers or have declined the offers you've received, UCAS Extra lets you apply for an additional course at the University of Stirling before the Clearing process begins.

Clearing

If you've not met the conditions of any of your offers and have decided to decline your offers, you can try to find another course to study via UCAS Clearing.

Alternatively, you could consider taking a gap year, an apprenticeship or studying at college. Many college courses have the option of transferring to university after a required period of study. If you're coming from college take a look at our information for college students.

The university requires a tuition fee deposit to be paid before a Certificate of Acceptance (CAS) can be issued to self-funding students requiring a Student Visa. This deposit will be regarded as an advance payment towards the overall cost of your tuition fees. Check your offer letter for information or visit our how to pay your fees page.

Everything you need to know about visas and other related information for studying at the University of Stirling.

We’re an international research-led university and, as a licensed student visa sponsor, we welcome students from all over the world to come and study at Stirling.