Decisions on your UCAS Conservatoires application
Find out more about the different decisions conservatoires can make and what they mean.
Find out more about the different decisions conservatoires can make and what they mean.
The conservatoires are responsible for making these decisions and are given a deadline to make a decision about your application – as soon as there’s an update, we’ll let you know. As such, offers are only official once you’ve received an email from us.
A reserve decision (VC or VU) does not mean a place has been 'reserved' for you. Until you receive and accept a guaranteed offer (GC or GU), you have not been accepted to study at that conservatoire.
However, it does mean you'll be in a pool of reserve applicants, from which the conservatoire might be able to make you a guaranteed offer, if a suitable place becomes available on the course.
If you've been offered a reserve decision, it means the conservatoire making this decision is not able to offer you a guaranteed place at the time of making their decision. This is usually because they have already made (or expect to make) enough guaranteed offers to fill the spaces on your chosen course or specialist area. A reserve decision indicates that the conservatoire would like the chance to review whether they can offer a place to you, depending on the position with acceptances/declines to the guaranteed offers it has made.
However, a reserve decision is not a rejection. You'll become part of a pool of reserve candidates, from which the conservatoire may choose to make you a guaranteed offer if a suitable place becomes available. If the conservatoire chooses not to make you a guaranteed offer, you will not be able to enrol at that conservatoire.
A conservatoire can make you a guaranteed offer to replace your reserve place at any time during the application cycle. At some institutions, reserve decisions can remain active until after A Level results been issued in August. However, the decision to wait and see if a guaranteed place becomes available, or to accept an offer at another conservatoire, is entirely up to you.
You should have received specific information from your chosen conservatoires to help you make an informed decision. They're required to make this available to you under consumer protection legislation – find out about the information you should receive.