Upcoming Intakes to Study in UK Universities - Summer, Fall & Winter

UK Universities: Intakes

Universities in the UK follow an academic calendar that begins in September and ends in July. Between this time, UK’s universities and colleges, like their counterparts in USA and Canada, accept students in three intakes.

Fall or September/October intake
Winter or January/February intake
Summer/Spring or May intake

Here is how UK universities and colleges conduct their admission cycles throughout the year

INTAKE	STARTS FROM	DURATION	NATURE	PROS AND CONS
FALL	September	September–December/early January	Primary/Main intake	Most popular intake for international students, including Indian students because Gives you enough time to familiarise yourself with the environment and other conditions Universities/colleges offer their flagship and major courses A wide variety of courses are offered Greater opportunities for funding such as scholarships and bursaries The largest number of internship opportunities Greater number of applicants Most intense competition
WINTER	January	January–April	Secondary intake	You get the chance to apply if you have missed the September/October intake You have less time to adapt to the North European winter You get more time to work on your application Does not offer as many courses as the Fall intake The number of international applications is small because of the winter climate
SUMMER/SPRING	May	May-August	Least preferred intake	Offered by few universities/colleges Least options of courses Students prefer to take a spring break The pool of applicants is very small Competition is the least intense Enhanced chance of getting an offer

INTAKE

STARTS FROM

DURATION

NATURE

PROS AND CONS

FALL

September

September–December/early January

Primary/Main intake

Most popular intake for international students, including Indian students because

Gives you enough time to familiarise yourself with the environment and other conditions
Universities/colleges offer their flagship and major courses
A wide variety of courses are offered
Greater opportunities for funding such as scholarships and bursaries
The largest number of internship opportunities
Greater number of applicants
Most intense competition

WINTER

January

January–April

Secondary intake

You get the chance to apply if you have missed the September/October intake
You have less time to adapt to the North European winter
You get more time to work on your application
Does not offer as many courses as the Fall intake
The number of international applications is small because of the winter climate

SUMMER/SPRING

May

May-August

Least preferred intake

Offered by few universities/colleges
Least options of courses
Students prefer to take a spring break
The pool of applicants is very small
Competition is the least intense
Enhanced chance of getting an offer

The Winter Window: Don’t Pass Up

Undeniably the Fall intake is the most popular among international students. However, it will be unwise not to explore your options for the Winter intake as well, especially if you need more time on working on your application. There are a handful of UK universities that offer a host of both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in their Winter term. Please check out individual universities for offered courses and real-time updates on application deadlines.

Which Intake for Me?

Your decision will depend on your chosen university and preferred course, your past scholastic performance, your test scores, the acceptance rate of your university of choice, opening of application, class commencement, and your availability for the course. Consider the following.

COURSE	CONSIDERATION
Postgraduate	Many of the top universities do not have a Winter or Summer/Spring intake for Postgraduate courses Research your university thoroughly What kind of classes do you stand to gain or miss by choosing your intake?
PhD in UK	Most PhD studentship begins in September or October There are both funded and self-funded PhD studentship opportunities in the UK Both types of PhD can be undertaken at any time of the year.
MBA in UK	Most top B-Schools including Cranfield School of Management, Judge Business School, Said Business School, London Business School, Warwick Business School, Imperial College Business School offer their flagship MBA programs in the Fall/September intake.

The upcoming intakes in the UK for you should be Fall 2021 and Summer/Spring 2021.

Deadlines

Here is a general guideline for the deadlines of the UK universities.

Fall or October Intake

Top Universities: Between February and May of the same year

Winter or January/February Intake

Top Universities: Between June and September of the previous year

Summer/Spring or May Intake

Top Universities: Between October and January

Note that

For all the three intakes, the deadlines vary between universities, courses, and the levels of courses
Always check your university/department for its deadlines for your chosen course

The UCAS Connection

Are you applying to UK universities in Fall 2021 through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) portal? You should check out these application deadlines for UCAS.

For Undergraduate (UG) courses

15 October 2020 at 18:00 HRS UK time

Any course at the universities of Oxford/Cambridge
Courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, dentistry

15 January 2021 at 18:00 HRS UK time

For most of the courses

For Postgraduate (PG) courses

The UCAS does not have its deadlines
UCAS follows the deadlines of the universities
The universities and their departments decide their deadlines for different courses

The Good and the Not-So-Good News from UCAS

The 15 October deadline is generally inflexible
Applications received after 30 June are archived in UCAS Clearing
Many universities and colleges are flexible about accepting applications from international students late into the year, close to the beginning of the course
However, ask the university if it has a vacancy, especially for courses with a 15 October deadline because these courses are highly competitive
Some universities might have additional admission tests alongside UCAS application and these tests might have deadlines

Types of Deadlines

UG: See the UCAS section

PG: In the case of a Master’s, there are generally two types of deadlines.

Course Application deadline
Scholarship Application deadline, which will be different from the Course Application deadline.
Scholarship deadline can be as early as 6 months from the commencement of the course or as late as a few weeks before the course starts.

MBA: Most B-Schools have several rounds of deadlines: Early Decision, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, and sometimes Round 5

Early Decision: Early September
Round 1: Between mid-September and late October
Round 2: Between early November and mid-December
Round 3: Between early January and March
Round 4: Between early April and mid-July

Still, feeling a little confused? You can always reach out to us at Manya Education. We provide study-abroad counselling and would be happy to help you to stay on a steady course in your journey of studying abroad.

Upcoming Intakes to Study in UK