Important Information for New Students
Going to university is a hugely exciting time – a new chapter in your educational journey where you are joining a vibrant College community. Our aim is to fully support you as you settle in to university life and engage in your course in the most meaningful and effective ways.
Stranmillis’ reputation is built on shaping next and best practice in education and we look forward to welcoming you to the College where you can confidently look forward to a vibrant, engaging, inspiring and productive time as a student. Check these pages, your emails and our social media channels regularly for updates and arrangements for pre-arrival and welcome week.
Dr Ken Gibson
Director of Student and Learning Services
Congratulations on receiving an offer for a course at Stranmillis University College.
We understand that this is can be an extremely anxious time – please read through the information below very carefully as it will answer a lot of your questions regarding the UCAS Confirmation and Clearing period in August and becoming a student here at the College.
The Admissions process for Stranmillis University College is managed by the Academic Registry team. If you cannot find the answer to your query below, please contact Academic Registry (registry@stran.ac.uk) or call 028 9038 4263.
Stranmillis University College will receive the results for most applicants direct from UCAS, although it may sometimes be necessary for some results to be provided directly to us by you – please check the list below.
GCSE Results
Candidates who are expecting GCSE results in August should note that the University College does not receive these results direct from UCAS.
It is essential that you send a scanned copy of your results to registry@stran.ac.uk as soon as you receive them.
Access and Foundation Course Results
In order to ensure that such applications are dealt with by the normal deadline, we would ask all candidates taking these qualifications to arrange for results to be submitted not later than Friday 2nd August. A clear statement of the overall result and the percentage marks obtained in each module is required from the college at which the Access course was studied.
The College will process an application on the basis of the published results.
The College cannot delay a decision pending the outcome of a re-mark. If you have received a positive regrade, then you must email the Academic Registry team (registry@stran.ac.uk) immediately and provide official evidence of the new grade. The Academic Registry team cannot accept a statement of unit/module results (i.e. the evidence must include the new overall final grade).
The College will honour re-marks until the 5th September, if you meet the original conditions of your offer. Beyond this date, the College is not obliged to consider re-marks. However, the College will of course try to be as accommodating as possible if places are available. If your grade does improve, you should provide the Academic Registry team (registry@stran.ac.uk) evidence of the new grade even if you do not meet your original offer conditions, as there may be some flexibility.
It is also worth noting that a grade may come back lower than the original grade.
Examples of mitigating circumstances include personal or family illness/grievance or other difficult family situation.
Important: It is the responsibility of the examination board to take account of extenuating circumstances.
You (or your parent/guardian or school) should contact your school right away to make them aware of any extenuating circumstances and ensure that the school lets the appropriate examination boards know, if they have not done so already.
That being said, you (or your parent/guardian or school), should make the Academic Registry team aware of circumstances by sending an email to registry@stran.ac.uk.
‘EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES’ should be entered as the Subject Line. It may also worth advising to have papers re-marked (see above).
You will be notified of your decision via your UCAS Track Account. It is essential that you confirm your place, without delay, by following the steps provided to you at that time.
Important: If you decline your place, even in error, there is no guarantee of your place being reinstated.
If you have received an offer, the table below explains the status of your UCAS choice.
| Code | Description | What does it mean? |
| UF | Unconditional Firm | You have been given an Unconditional offer and you have accepted this as your Firm choice. |
| UI | Unconditional Insurance | You have been given an Unconditional offer and you have accepted this as your Insurance choice. |
| UD | Unconditional Decline | You have been given an Unconditional offer and you have Declined the offer. |
| CF | Conditional Firm | You have been given a Conditional offer and you have accepted this as your Firm choice. |
| CI | Conditional Insurance | You have been given a Conditional offer and you have accepted this as your Insurance choice. |
| CD | Conditional Decline | You have been given a Conditional offer and you have Declined the offer. |
For a number of reasons (including outstanding results/ student number controls), decisions on borderline applications may take some time. The Academic Registry team understand that this is an extremely anxious time for you, and will endeavour to communicate a decision to you as quickly as possible.
Initially all those who exactly meet or better the conditions of their offer are accepted and after that Registry must assess what room there is for ‘flexibility’. Depending on the number of successful applicants and the number of vacancies still to be filled, it may be possible for some courses to offer places to you, if you are slightly below their target grades. However, it will take several days before such a decision can be made.
This means that a decision has not yet been made on your application.
This is usually because you have not met the conditions of your offer, i.e. you are borderline, but you are still under consideration in the hope that the College can offer you a place or make a change course offer. It is also possible that the College may not have received results for you.
If a decision on your application is pending it may take several days for a final decision to be taken, depending upon availability of places. The intake for the courses here at the College is capped and therefore cannot be overfilled. The UCAS deadline for Universities to make decisions is 31st August.
If you are borderline, you may wish to consider submitting a “Course Enquiry form” (see the section on Clearing below) if you are interested in any of the Foundation Degrees.
If you are interested in what Stranmillis courses are available through Clearing, then you should go to the Stranmillis University College website and submit a “Course Enquiry Form”. This form will be available from the beginning of August.
A member of the Academic Registry team will get in touch in due course.
You will be notified directly by the Academic Registry team if a space becomes available on their course, usually by telephone or email.
If you wish to withdraw from your place at Stranmillis, you can use the ‘Self Release’ option on UCAS.
Alternatively, you can email registry@stran.ac.uk with the following info:
- Name,
- UCAS ID,
- Course applied for and
- State if you wish to be released into Clearing or to be released from the UCAS scheme.
You should enter “WITHDRAW FROM (COURSENAME) AT STRANMILLIS” in the Subject line of the email. Please provide a brief reason for not taking up your place, as this will ensure the correct action is taken.
Important: If you decline your place, even in error, there is no guarantee of your place being reinstated.
It is important that Academic Registry are advised ASAP, so that your place can be offered to someone else.
The College does not accept deferred entry.
If you wish to defer, you will need to withdraw your application for this year and reapply next year. Please email registry@stran.ac.uk.
Unconditional Firm (UF) candidates
If you have been successful in obtaining a place, you will receive emailed information in mid-September regarding Registration and Enrolment etc.
It is essential that you check your email on a regular basis and update the University College if any of your personal details have changed.
Residential Induction Programme
All new students holding an offer of a place on one of the degree courses listed below will be invited to a residential induction programme at the Stranmillis campus.
- BEd (Hons) Primary
- BEd (Hons) Post-Primary Business and Enterprise
- BEd (Hons) Post-Primary Mathematics
- BEd (Hons) Post-Primary Religious Studies
- BEd (Hons) Post-Primary Technology and Design
- BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies
- BSc (Hons) Health, Physical Activity and Sport
All new undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to attend the full residential programme, as it is a great opportunity to meet the other new students and also to familiarise yourself with the Stranmillis campus.
The residential induction programme lasts for 3 days, with 2 nights accommodation provided in the Stran Halls on campus. The entire induction programme, accommodation, food, parking etc, is free of charge.
NB: As part of the Induction programme, students will complete Registration and Enrolment
The dates for the residential induction programme have yet to be confirmed, but are likely to be Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 September 2024.
Registration and Enrolment (Foundation Degree Students)
All new Foundation Degree students must attend registration and enrolment at the Stranmillis University College campus.
Registration and Enrolment will take place during September, dates to be confirmed.
Welcome and Orientation
Welcome and Orientation for all full-time undergraduate students attending a course on the Stranmillis University College campus will take place on Monday 23 September, 2024.
Students are required to attend all planned sessions.
When does Teaching Start?
Teaching at the Stranmillis University College campus is due to start on Tuesday 24 September, 2024.
Foundation Degree students will be notified by their Regional College about their start dates.
For any other admissions query, please contact the Academic Registry team by email (registry@stran.ac.uk) or by telephone 028 9038 4263.
If your query is not related to admissions, then please see the other useful contacts below:
| Subject | Contact Telephone number | |
| Tuition Fees / Finance | studentfinance@stran.ac.uk
|
02890 384266 |
| Halls | halls@stran.ac.uk
|
02890 384251 |
Stranmillis University College is a small university college, with a very strong community focus. Students joining us can rest assured that they will receive strong personalised support.
At Stranmillis, the student is always at the centre of all that we seek to do. We offer a comprehensive range of support structures to enable you to make a smooth transition to higher education study, providing appropriate and relevant support to all students, in a timely manner. We operate an “open door” policy and this aims to provide students with support at their point of need. Our Student Support Team will be on hand to help and support you with the transition to life at Stranmillis and provide a full range of student support services.
Every student is allocated a personal tutor who is there to support you through your academic journey at Stran. You will be able to contact your personal tutor in person or remotely.
Stran Halls catered student accommodation is open for booking. Both en-suite and standard catered accommodation will be available for the full academic year (ie. 37/38 week residential agreement). Catering is provided five days a week. For further information on Stran Halls click here or contact the Stran Halls team on halls@stran.ac.uk