Due to the popularity of our courses, we’re unfortunately unable to make offers to everyone who applies. However, because we receive a lot of strong applications, we’re sometimes able to offer alternative courses instead.
If you’ve received an offer for a different course, this is because we’ve identified you have the merit and potential for that course (even though we couldn’t offer your original choice).
Whilst the course may be a subject you haven’t known about, considered, or studied before, you might just find that your skills, experience or interests fit well, so it’s worth looking at the course we’ve offered you with an open mind.
We know you’ll be disappointed you didn’t receive an offer from us for your original course. Please visit our If You Are Unsuccessful page to help understand why your application was unsuccessful.
The information below contains important details about your offer to an alternative course:
No, if we’ve made you an offer for a different course, this means we were unable to make you an offer for your original choice and are unable to reconsider our decision.
We’re also usually unable to reconsider you for other courses within the same academic department - this is because we will have already considered you for those courses before making you an offer.
Should you choose to reapply in a subsequent year, we’d be happy to consider your application then, since we consider all applications afresh each year.
If you accept your offer and start your studies at Durham, you will be unable to transfer to your original choice once you’ve registered with us. Therefore, you should only accept your offer if you intend to study your offered course through to graduation.
We understand you might want to do a bit of research if we’ve offered something you’ve never considered before! You can find detailed information about this in our courses database, including possible career opportunities if you accept our offer and join us as a student. Our graduates are highly sought after, and Durham University is ranked in the top 40 globally for employer reputation.
You can Ask Us to consider your application for another course if it’s open at UCAS and is a different subject area to your original choice (usually based on the academic department the course was from). We'll then consider your application against the criteria for that course and let you know our decision as soon as possible.
This will not put your existing offer at risk – if we can’t change your course then your existing offer will remain open until you make your replies or until the UCAS reply deadline passes, whichever is sooner.
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