Your offer and confirming your place
If your application is successful, you will receive an offer. Your place will be confirmed when you have accepted the place, met the conditions of your offer and supplied any additional information.
Your offer
If you applied using our postgraduate application system and your application is successful, you can view the offer in your account.
The type of offer you receive depends on:
- if you meet the requirements for your course (unconditional offer)
- if you still have qualifications to complete (conditional offer).
Your offer may be subject to us receiving references or verifying qualifications if these have not been submitted with your application.
If you have applied for a Masters for which Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) clearance is required, we provide information to help you apply for an ATAS certificate with your offer letter.
Providing academic references
You must provide at least one academic reference from your most recent university.
If we did not receive your reference at the time your offer was made, you need to submit your reference before your place can be confirmed. Upload your reference to your postgraduate application account as soon as possible. You must upload your reference by 1 September.
Changing your academic referee
If you want to change your academic referee, contact the new referee for a reference. They should email a scanned copy of their reference letter to pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk. The letter must be on headed paper or sent to us from an academic or professional email address.
Accepting your offer
Your offer will include a date by which you must accept (or decline) the place. The deadline to make your decision depends on when the offer letter is issued:
| Date of offer letter | Deadline to respond |
|---|---|
| Before or on December 1 |
1 February |
| Between 2 December and 1 February |
1 April |
| Between 2 February and 1 April |
1 June |
| Between 2 April and 1 June |
1 August |
| Between 2 June and 1 August |
1 September |
| On or after 2 August |
Within seven days |
You can accept your offer via our postgraduate application system. You will see the response deadline in your offer letter which is viewable from your online account.
If you've made more than one application to Sussex, you can only accept one course and you will need to decline the others.
You can switch your acceptance between courses, so if you're waiting for a decision from your preferred course, you can still accept another course and change it later (if you receive an offer from your preferred course).
If you don't respond by the specified deadline, your offers will automatically be declined and we can't guarantee that we will be able to reinstate the offer.
Verifying your results
You must provide your official results for the qualifications you declared on your application form. If your official results were not submitted as part of the application, these must be submitted before we can confirm your place.
You need to upload your results to your postgraduate application account by 1 September.
If you need a visa to study in the UK, you must send in your results before we can issue your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
If you are a self-funded international student, you will also need to pay a Masters tuition fee deposit to receive your CAS - find out more.
Once you have received your CAS number you can apply for a student visa.
Meeting the conditions of your offer
You must have met the conditions of your offer before you start at Sussex.
If you have not met the conditions of your offer, we may still be able to confirm your place. Upload your results to your postgraduate application account as soon as they are available so we can review your application.
Deferring your entry
If you want to defer your entry:
- email a request to our admissions team with your name and application number
- if your request is agreed, we confirm the new start date by email.
It is not possible to defer your place for a second time - you should reapply instead.
If you want to defer your place, or decide you no longer want to come to Sussex, email pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk.