This page provides information for anyone who is thinking of applying for undergraduate study at Lancaster. This information relates primarily to 2025 entry.
How to apply
All full time undergraduate applications should be made through the UCAS website using UCAS Hub. You will submit one UCAS application for all the universities that you are applying to.
As part of the application, you will need to enter your personal details, previous and current qualifications, an academic reference, and a personal statement. The UCAS website provides helpful tips and videos that explain in detail the information required for each section of the application.
You cannot upload documents to your UCAS application, but you are welcome to email any supporting documents to the admissions team.
If you are applying directly from school or college in the UK, there should be a member of staff who can advise and guide you through the process.
If you are applying for Medicine and Surgery, we recommend that you refer to the Lancaster Medical School pages, as they provide specific advice on admissions, some of which will differ from the advice on the rest of this page.
Application deadlines
If you are applying for Medicine and Surgery, or if one of the universities that you are applying to is Oxford or Cambridge, then the deadline for submitting your completed UCAS application is in October. For courses starting in 2025 (and deferred applications) the deadline was 15 October 2024. For courses starting in 2026 (and deferred applications) the deadline is 18:00 (UK time) on 15 October 2025.
For all other courses at Lancaster University, the UCAS equal consideration deadline is in January. After this point, we will still accept applications for the majority of courses, but some may close to new applications, so please check the UCAS course search first. For courses starting in 2025 (and deferred applications), the deadline was on 29 January 2025. For courses starting in 2026 (and deferred applications) the deadline is 18:00 (UK time) on Wednesday 14 January 2026.
The final UCAS application deadline for courses starting in 2025 is 30 June 2025. However, universities have a limited time in which to make decisions on applications submitted on this deadline, and we may not have time to give your application full consideration. Therefore, we recommend that you aim to submit your application well before 30 June, in order to ensure your application has the best opportunity of being successful.
Applications received by UCAS after 30 June are automatically entered into Clearing.
You might find it useful to refer to the Dates and Deadlines page on the UCAS website.
Lancaster University application process
We consider applications and make offers on a rolling basis. After we receive your application from UCAS, the Admissions team will aim to make a decision within three weeks. The timescale will be longer for some courses, particularly if there are other factors in the decision-making process, such as an interview or portfolio assessment. In some cases, we may need to ask you for additional information.
How we assess your application
We will consider your application as a whole, including:·
The qualifications that you are studying towards, including your predicted grades. For some qualifications, you may already have received some grades, and we will take these into account. Read more about the qualifications we accept.
The grades you have achieved for previous qualifications, for example, your full GCSE profile
Any periods of study that did not result in a qualification
Your academic reference
Your personal statement
We may also take into account admissions tests, such as TMUA or STEP for Mathematics
We may take into account completed work experience.
Some courses will require you to attend an interview and/or submit a portfolio, in addition to the application. For more information, see our course pages
If you have a non-standard academic background, or you are a mature applicant, we may invite you to attend an interview, or ask you to submit a piece of work
Additional information
Here is some additional information we hope you will find useful.
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When you complete a UCAS application, you will be able to select up to five courses, or “Choices”. Most applicants decide to use their Choices to apply to different universities, but you have the option of using your UCAS application to apply to more than one course at Lancaster University.
If you are interested in applying for two courses at Lancaster University that are closely related, you may want to consider whether this is necessary. If you are unsure, please contact the Admissions team, who will be happy to advise you. We recognise that it is important that you make the best use of your available Choices.
If you are applying for a standard degree programme along with a Study Abroad / Industry / Placement Year / Master's variant of that degree, you may prefer to just apply to the more specialist version of the degree programme. If we are not able to accept you for your preferred course, we will typically consider you for the standard variant as an alternative. If you hold an offer for a Study Abroad / Industry / Placement Year / Master's degree programme, and you decide you wish to change to the standard variant, this is usually possible.
If you wish to delay the start of your degree studies to 2026, we are happy to consider applications for deferred entry, as long as the course is still available for that entry year. You will need to meet the entry requirements by Wednesday 3 September 2025.
If you are applying to study Medicine, please refer to the Lancaster Medical School pages for further information.
For some courses, we will consider applications for entry to Year 2 of the degree on a case-by-case basis. You will need to submit an application through UCAS in the usual way.
We will require the following:
Information on your pre-degree or high school qualifications (e.g. GCSEs and A levels). We would typically expect you to have met our entry requirements for Year 1 entry.
Information on your current or previous undergraduate study, including a list of all the modules you have completed and are yet to complete. We will need to check if you have covered sufficient academic material equivalent to the content of Year 1 of the Lancaster University degree. We expect applicants to pass the current year of their undergraduate study (or equivalent) with upper second class honours marks.
We would require a reference from someone who has taught you as part of your undergraduate studies.
If you do not meet these requirements, we may be able to consider you for Year 1 entry.
Lancaster University does not permit entry into Year 3 (or higher) of any degree course.
If you are studying a degree with an integrated foundation year at another institution, we are happy to consider applications from those wishing to transfer after the foundation year to Year 1 of a Lancaster degree course.
If you are applying to study Medicine, please refer to the Lancaster Medical School pages for information on their transfer policy.
If you applied in a previous year and want to re-apply in the current UCAS application cycle, you will need to start a new UCAS application. It is not possible to transfer your old application across to a new application cycle.
We are committed to being a supportive and inclusive environment for students with disabilities. When you submit your application through UCAS, we would encourage you to include information on any disabilities or long-term health conditions. This will mean that, if we offer you a place to study, we will be able to start a conversation about any support needs or any reasonable adjustments you may need. The Disability and Inclusive Practice Service may contact you prior to entry in order to ensure that reasonable adjustments can be made, and the earlier we have this information, the more likely it is we can have these in place for the start of your studies.
In line with our commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion, any offer of study we may make will be an academic offer. The admissions team, in assessing your application, will not take into account any disability or long term health condition you have disclosed to us (unless you have specifically requested we take into account exceptional or mitigating circumstances). In the unlikely event that, despite reasonable adjustments, you are unable to access your chosen course, we will provide what advice and support we can in submitting an alternative application.
Please note, if you have a long-term mental health condition and receive ongoing support from specialist services, you will need to ensure your care is transferred before the start of your studies. Although the Lancaster University Student Mental Health Service offers short-term interventions and support, it does not provide a crisis service or a replacement for NHS services.
We welcome applications from mature applicants, and those who are returning to study following a break. These should be made through UCAS in the usual way.
You will still need to meet our academic entry requirements, but we are sometimes able to be flexible. If you narrowly miss our entry requirements, either because your grades are not high enough, or because you have not completed the equivalent of three full A levels, you are welcome to contact the Admissions team, and we will be happy to advise you whether it is likely that we could consider you further.
If you do not have any qualifications equivalent to A levels (Level 3 qualifications), you might like to consider completing an Access to HE Diploma or Open University modules (120 credits) before submitting an application.
Starting a degree course can be challenging for any student, regardless of their previous study. We think it is important that you are sufficiently prepared for undergraduate study. Therefore we typically require mature applicants to have undertaken some recent study, which may include professional qualifications, or Open University modules. We may also take into consideration whether you have work experience in a role that involves skills such as data analysis, critical thinking or report-writing.
If you would like any advice about whether we could consider an application from you, or the qualifications you might consider completing in order to be able to apply for a Lancaster degree course, please contact the Admissions team, who will be happy to advise you.
Lancaster University considers applications regardless of the age of the applicant. This is the case for all degree courses, except where there are safeguarding issues. However, the University has additional responsibilities to students who are under the age of 18 when they register. Please see our Policy for the admission of students under the age of 18 for further information.
If you will be under the age of 18 when you register, we will consider your application as we would any other applicant. However, if you will still be under the age of 18 on 30 June at the end of your first year of study at Lancaster (for example, 30 June 2026 in the case of a student who starts in October 2025), we will not be able to offer you university accommodation. We also believe it will be difficult for you to secure accommodation with another provider in Lancaster. Therefore, unless you already have accommodation arranged, we recommend that you defer your entry, and aim to start your studies the following year.
If you are interested in part time study at Lancaster University, please contact the Admissions team. It is likely that we will need to discuss your case with the appropriate academic department. Not all our courses are available to study on a part time basis and all teaching will be between the hours of 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday.
If you have experienced exceptional or mitigating circumstances during your studies that may have affected your performance, please ensure you or your school/college have contacted the exam board to make them aware as soon as possible, so that it can be taken in to account in your marks.
If you believe that you have exceptional or mitigating circumstances that you would like us to take into consideration when we assess your application, please complete the Mitigating or exceptional circumstances form and send this to the Admissions team by email before 1 July. You may prefer your school or college to send this on your behalf. We will contact you if we require further information or evidence.
We will take into account any information relating to mitigating and exceptional circumstances in the UCAS reference. However, it is still our preference that a form is submitted, and submission of a form may make for a more compelling case, particularly if you would like us to take into account your circumstances at the point that we consider your final results.
We will take this information into account when assessing your application. We will also keep this information on your record, and take it into account if you accept a conditional offer from us, but narrowly miss the required grades when your final results are released.
We make contextual offers as part of our commitment to improving social mobility and widening access to higher education for all. We aim to identify the potential of applicants whose personal circumstances may have impacted their achievement in education.
If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, please complete our enquiry form and one of our team will get back to you.
