i have just had a email of ucas saying i have a conditional place and to reply what does this mean?

Question

it says firm,insurance,decline what does this mean thank you x

Answer 1

It means that they are making an offer, but there are conditions, normally meaning you have to meet the required grades.

Firm means its your 1st Choice
Insurance means its your 2nd choice
Decline means you don't want to short list it.

Answer 2

I am assuming you are talking about the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, which is the clearing house for applications for colleges in Britain... correct?

You should call your admissions counselor at the university you want to attend or ask the guidance counselor at school to clarify the conditions.

UCAS offers conditional and unconditional admissions. Students with unconditional admission are generally accepted to their first choice (firm) and do not need to submit a second choice university (insurance). Students with conditional admission are asked for both a firm and an insurance school. Conditional admissions means that you agree that you will maintain a certain grade level and test scores to stay enrolled at the university.

You might also want to look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCAS someone has spent a lot of time explaining the process.

Basically, if your grades fall below a certain mark (usually around a 2.0) than you will be dismissed from the university.

Answer 3

Conditional means that you can go there if you get the required grades. Firm means you accept the offer and (providing you get the right grades) that will be where you go, insurance is usually a uni with lower grades than your firm choice so if you don't get the grades for your firm choice you can still go to your insurance. You cannot go to your insurance though if you get the grades for your firm. Decline just means decline and you don't want to go there.

Answer 4

If you have only applied to one university and want to accept that place then you have to put it as your firm place which you can normally do by logging into UCAS and pressing on 'reply to offers'. You will have to meet the conditions they set before you can start that course.
This normally means attaining a certain amount of 'points' from A levels etc. which you won't have the results for until August.
You can find out what each grade equates to points wise on the UCAS website.
If you have applied to more than one university and haven't received all your offers off them yet then you won't be required to reply to your offers until everyone has sent you their offer.
This is when you will have to choose which university you want as your firm choice (if you achieve the points they require then this will be the university you go to) and your insurance choice (if you dont't achieve the points for your firm choice then this will be the one you go to,providing you have achieved the points they want for this course).
Hope that helps!!!

Answer 5

You don't have to decide which universities will be your firm/insurence until the end of march/april or something I think, so wait until you get a response form all your chosen uni's.

Answer 6

It sounds to me like a promotional piece. They probably sent it to all high school seniors meeting certain conditions, hoping you will contact them and feel some obligation to go there. The "conditions" are probably that you need to meet their normal admissions standards, so if you apply there, and are qualified, you would get in (big surprise!).

Answer 7

it means you have a place depending on the conditions they have set.
this could just be a condition that you have to reply and accept.
or it could be a condition that you need to get certain grades.