A-Levels 2020
Update 21 August 2020
We have now received all A level centre assessed grades (CAGs) from UCAS. Congratulations to all students who have met the conditions of their offer.
We are delighted to confirm that all Firm offer holders who have now met the conditions of their offer at LSE will have their offer of a place confirmed for 2020 entry. This includes the A level students for whom we received the CAGs from UCAS on 20 August.*
It is important that we recognise the achievements of our successful offer holders and this is why we have expanded our teaching and learning provision to ensure you have the opportunity to begin your studies with us in September.
We have contacted all successful offer holders setting out the next steps for you. We look forward to welcoming you to LSE.
*Unfortunately, should any exam boards alter their grading system or methodology from 19 August, such that formerly unsuccessful LSE offer holders meet the conditions of their offer, we will be unable to confirm those offers for 2020. All such offers will have to be made for 2021 entry.
Update - 19 August 2020
Thank you to all of our undergraduate offer holders for your continued patience during this difficult time. We recognise how stressful the situation is for you all, and we are working as quickly as we can to assist and support you.
On 17 August, the government announced that students would be awarded their centre assessed A level grades or their moderated A level grades, whichever was higher. The change in policy does mean that we now have more offer-holders meeting their grades than in a normal year.
LSE's primary concerns remain the health and safety of our students and staff, and the overall quality of the teaching, learning and social experience of our LSE community. We are committed to delivering an excellent undergraduate experience for our students in a socially distanced and safe environment. We are reviewing capacity on our undergraduate programmes, teaching space and campus, working hard to ensure that students who meet their conditions under the new Centre Assessed Grades (CAG) policy are guaranteed their place in this academic year, or the next academic year.
We are due to receive the verified CAGs from UCAS later this week. Once we have processed these results we will let you know the situation for the coming year. We are only able to use CAGs sent to us via the UCAS system to process an offer holder's application
As you know, we are not able to speak to everyone who calls us or respond to emails as quickly as we would like at this time. However, please be assured that we are handling enquiries and processing documents as swiftly and carefully as we can. We know how challenging this situation is for you all.
Finally, if you have received confirmation from your school that you meet or exceed the original conditions of your LSE offer as a result of the CAG policy, you will receive an email with a CAG form and should aim to submit it to us as soon as possible. This will help us with our planning. You should complete this form even if you have already emailed us with details of your CAGs.
Thank you again for bearing with us as we respond to the evolving situation.
Update - 17 August 2020
A-Level grades - Government and devolved administration announcements on 17 August
The UK government announced on 17 August that A-levels and GCSEs in England will be awarded based on the "centre assessment grades" from teachers. See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-from-roger-taylor-chair-ofqual for the Ofqual statement.
In Northern Ireland, A-level and AS-level students will be awarded the highest grade either predicted by their teacher or awarded officially last week.
In Wales, A-level, AS, GCSE, Skills Challenge Certificate and Welsh Baccalaureate grades will be awarded on the basis of teacher assessments.
LSE and its Undergraduate Admissions team is now working with UCAS, the DfeE and the rest of the HE sector to determine how we can receive the Centre Assessment Grades swiftly and how we move forward with confirming our eligible candidates. We appreciate that offer holders and their families have been through an extremely anxious and stressful few weeks and we want to make the process as smooth as possible for you. We will update this page when we receive further clarification around the Centre Assessment Grades and the process for confirming university places.
13 August
Congratulations to our successful offer holders. All places for undergraduate programmes have been filled. LSE is not participating in UCAS Clearing or Adjustment
This has been an extraordinary year in which most of you have had your education disrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. If you have questions regarding your grades and what happens next please read the information and guidance below. Alternatively, you can email us at ug.admissions@lse.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0) 20 7955 7125. We expect the phone lines to be extremely busy on 13 and 14 August so please bear with us as we try to speak to everyone who calls us.
Confirmation 2020
If you have met all of the conditions of your offer then you will see confirmation of your place on UCAS Track. Congratulations! We will email you shortly with information about Welcome and how to register online using the LSE registration portal.
If you are unhappy with your A level grades you should ask your school to submit an appeal to your examination board. If the appeal results in your grade(s) being adjusted upwards such that you meet the conditions of your offer by 7 September we will honour your place at LSE.
If you do less well in one or more of your A-Levels in August you may choose to sit an exam, as soon as it is reasonably possible to do so in Autumn 2020, to improve your grades. If, having taken these exams, you meet or exceed your offer condition to study at LSE, we will guarantee you an offer of a place in 2021. You will need to tell us that you intend to sit exams in the Autumn. The deadline for this is 7th September.
Teaching and learning in Michaelmas Term 2020
LSE’s campus and halls of residence will be open to welcome all of our new students for Welcome (Monday 21 September) with a range of enhanced safety measures in place to protect and support you. We expect students to register at LSE for the start of term as our campus will be open. However, if your enrolment is delayed by travel restrictions or problems obtaining your visa, support will be available for you from your programme teams and from central support services until you are able to join us later in Michaelmas Term.
To ensure an excellent educational experience, we are taking a flexible approach to your teaching and learning throughout the Michaelmas Term. Here are some key elements that will shape your term:
New students will be able to register for the academic year online, which will be followed with an on-campus enrolment event when you arrive in London.
Small in-person classes, seminars, tutorial groups, as well as Harvard style teaching sessions, will run on campus where possible, all in socially distanced environments. These activities, as well as other student support, will also be accessible to students unable to access campus if there is a delay to you joining us in London.
Lectures will be delivered online for Michaelmas Term 2020. All lectures will be recorded and made available for you to access off-campus.
All programmes will continue to maximise students’ ability to work together, both online and on campus, and contribute safely to your learning community. A mix of interactive activities between classes will give you the opportunity to connect with our world-leading faculty, share ideas with fellow students and engage with LSE’s rich education and research culture.
We know your experience at LSE is shaped outside of the classroom too, and we will offer you a range of exciting opportunities to develop skills and try new things. These include giving back through volunteering, developing your entrepreneurial ideas via LSE Generate, shaping your community through LSE Students’ Union activities and societies and our new online public lecture programme. All activity will start from Welcome 2020, which will be delivered digitally and in-person. You can also access thriving regional alumni groups too, which operate across the globe.
Across campus and halls of residences, we will introduce enhanced health and safety measures. Where appropriate it is likely that we will go beyond government guidance, based on scientific advice and the expertise of our academic faculty. Face coverings whilst indoors on campus in shared areas and in communal spaces in residences will be mandatory. A robust set of protocols will also be put in place that take a holistic view of how to keep our community safe and well. This includes enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices, recalibrating space, floor markings to ensure social distancing, controlled access to campus buildings and mechanisms to identify and assist individuals and our community more widely if people are unwell. We will also explore what contributions ‘test, trace and isolate’ processes and temperature checks at key points on campus can make to safety, amongst other measures such as hand sanitising stations, disinfectant wipes for classroom settings, one way circulation routes and reduced capacities in teaching and social learning spaces.
We are committed to working in partnership with you to enhance your experiences and Disability and Wellbeing Services, Careers, Student Advice and LSE LIFE will continue to be available to guide you through the next academic year and beyond through excellent online and in-person services where possible.
We do recognise that it may be difficult for some students to travel internationally to London for the start of term and support will be put in place so that you can access online provision in Michaelmas Term if this is the case.
LSE's Director, Minouche Shafik said:
“I very much look forward to welcoming our new students to London for the 2020/2021 academic session in September. The wellbeing of our School community is paramount and our flexible approach to teaching and learning will ensure an excellent education and student experience continues safely for all. We are a global community at LSE, and we are committed to sustaining that openness as we shape the world in partnership with students, staff and friends of our School in the academic year ahead."
Registration
New students will be able to register online for their LSE programme from 1 September 2020.
Welcome 2020 events will be running from 21 September, both online and on campus, and we hope that students will travel to London to take part in these activities.
For the majority of students term begins on 28 September. We ask students to make every effort to come to campus for the start of term. This is because we are planning to run teaching and learning sessions, eg. seminars, tutorials and classes, on campus in a socially distanced environment. However, if your travel plans are impacted by COVID-19 we will put support in place for you to access your teaching and learning remotely in Michaelmas term.
We will be providing much of our Welcome activity, videos and presentations online this year so you will be able to access them wherever you are and whenever you arrive on campus. We will also be running some on-campus activity throughout the term to ensure that all our students are welcomed to LSE, regardless of when they arrive.
If you are not able to make it to London for the start of Michaelmas Term due to travel restrictions, visa delays, health/medical–related issues, or other COVID-19 related circumstances outside of your control, you will be given access to online teaching until you are able to travel to campus. Online provision will only be made available for Michaelmas Term.
LSE has introduced a new online registration process for 2020/21, which means that you can be a fully registered student without being on campus. During the registration process you will be asked if you need to study remotely (online only) for a fixed period because of the ongoing impact of COVID-19. It is currently not expected that this fixed period of remote study will extend beyond the end of the Michaelmas Term
You will be asked to tell us when you are likely to arrive (it is ok to give us an approximate date) and then provide us with a little more information on the reason for your delay so we can provide you with the right guidance and support. The information you give us will then be sent to your academic department who will contact you with the information you need to access the teaching and learning for your programme online. Online teaching will only be made available for Michaelmas Term.
The option to follow your programme remotely via online study is currently available for Michaelmas Term only. We expect all new and continuing LSE students to arrive on campus for in-person teaching at the start of Lent Term (Monday 18 January). If you are due to take exams in January 2021 please note they will be delivered online and you do not need to be on campus to take them. Further information on the January exams will be available shortly on the Student Services website.
If you need to study remotely for some or all of Michaelmas Term, you should also check, and take responsibility for, any other arrangements that may be impacted by a period of online study. These may include accommodation contracts, scholarships or loans, and visa conditions for international students and EU students (who, post-Brexit and under current rules, would need a visa if they do not take up residence in the UK before 31 December 2020). It is also your responsibility to ensure that you are able to study remotely in an appropriate environment.
The School does not alter the Conditions of Registration very often. We have set out in the updated Conditions some of the scenarios where it may be necessary to do this. In particular, we are mindful that government advice and guidance from regulatory bodies may change over time, as the pandemic evolves. The health and wellbeing of our student community is our top priority and therefore it may be necessary to adjust the Conditions once again. We will always make every effort to keep changes to a minimum and to notify students in good time of any changes that are going to be made.
Teaching and learning
Our flexible approach to teaching and learning will be in place for the duration of Michaelmas Term. We will deliver seminars, classes and interactive teaching sessions face-to-face on a socially distanced campus, and online for students whose arrival is delayed, with all lectures delivered online. We will monitor and review these arrangements regularly throughout the term and follow government guidance to keep our LSE community safe. We will keep you updated as our plans for the Lent and Summer terms develop.
We will run classes, seminars and tutorial groups, as well as Harvard style teaching sessions, face-to-face on campus in a socially distanced environment, wherever possible. These classes will also be accessible by students unable to access campus in the early weeks of the term.
Where departments are running synchronous classes/seminars, they will run at least twice so that students in different time zones can engage with them at the start of term.
As term progresses, we expect all students to take part in face-to-face classes, seminars and tutorial groups on the LSE campus.
We are recording lectures and classes, some of which will be recorded ‘live’ at the point of delivery, so that all students can access them online at the most appropriate time for them. Online lectures form a key part of our flexible teaching approach next term and their availability is a useful learning resource for all students.
All students will have the opportunity to work together between classes in Peer Study Groups on tasks or activities (academic and social).
Timetabled hours of study for students should stay broadly the same as they would in a ‘non-socially distanced’ LSE environment.
We aim to timetable classes/seminars during regular hours on weekdays as far as possible. We will only schedule classes/seminars in the evenings and weekends when there is no other option.
Where possible, we aim to ensure that the classes/seminars scheduled in the evenings and at weekends have alternative classes/seminars timetabled during weekday hours. This means that, for the courses in which we can achieve this (and keeping in mind that we will not be able to achieve this for all courses), for undergraduate classes, you should be able to request a change to your allocated class via LSE for You; and that, for graduate seminars, you should be able to select an appropriately timed group via ‘LSE for You’ or via your department.
Experts in our Eden Centre for Education Enhancement have guided the development of our flexible approach to teaching and learning to ensure that you benefit from LSE’s high standards in education in a safe environment. Our flexible teaching approach will be subject to our stringent quality assurance processes, ensuring that there is no compromise on the rigour or standard of LSE degrees. We will continue to apply our validation, monitoring and review mechanisms to assure the quality of our courses and programmes.
LSE will be open for the Michaelmas Term and all students are expected to come to London for teaching and learning. The School is putting in place a range of measures to ensure you continue to receive high quality education and support, on campus and online, through our flexible approach in Michaelmas Term that will also enable you to develop new skills and be part of LSE’s learning community.
The UK Government Department for Education has outlined that you should not expect any refund if you are receiving adequate online learning and support, and we are confident that we will deliver positive experiences that are beneficial for all of our students. The tuition fee for your programme remains the same as published on the LSE Table of Fees. You are able to pay your fees in instalments, details of which can be found on our Fees pages.
Campus life
The Library will be open for all students and staff at the beginning of Michaelmas Term. Students will be able to access study spaces and the LSE collections, all in a socially distanced environment. We have worked hard to make core books and texts available online for students to access remotely, and we will continue to add to these collections through the academic year.
On top of our current online provisions, including one-to-one support and increased e-book access, the team are also developing further services to support you, details of which will be shared when finalised. For further information on what is currently accessible and the latest updates, check the LSE Library web pages.
The Students’ Union is working with students and its clubs and societies to provide a programme of events and activities for the 2020-21 academic session. More information will be available on its website over the Summer.
The UK government has established travel corridors with a number of countries. The most up to date information on UK quarantine rules can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors.
If quarantine controls are in place for your home country at the time of your arrival in London then students who have booked a place in one of the LSE halls of residence will be able to quarantine there. Residences staff will provide you with support and guidance on how to do this safely in your hall. We are also looking at measures to support those who need to quarantine but have not booked a place in one of the LSE halls of residence.
Further information about the measures we are putting in place in our Halls of Residence can be found on our Residences web pages.
LSE has undertaken extensive and rigorous risk assessments and health and safety assessments on all rooms and communal areas of the LSE campus. The measures we are putting in place are designed to keep our community as safe as possible. We are unapologetic about the fact that we will sometimes go beyond UK government guidance on social distancing or the use of face coverings to ensure our campus is safe.
LSE is putting in place comprehensive health and safety measures on campus to keep you safe and secure while on campus and in the halls of residence. This will include campus markings to ensure social distancing, the wearing of face masks and enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices. We will always, as a minimum, follow government advice regarding the safety of our students and staff.
We hope that London does not experience another lockdown in the 2020-21 academic year but we have developed contingency plans for such a situation to ensure that you continue to receive an excellent educational experience. It is not possible to provide details on all possible teaching, learning and support scenarios as government guidance will vary according to local conditions. However, the School will be ready to do the following:
- Issue clear guidance from the School and your department regarding the plans for teaching, learning and support;
- Implement government advice regarding student and staff access to campus;
- Provide lectures online in the Lent Term;
- Pivot in-person teaching to synchronous and asynchronous online provision using the mechanisms in place in Michaelmas Term to support those students unable travel to campus;
- Deliver departmental teaching materials via Moodle;
- Provide support services remotely, via Zoom, Teams, email, telephone, Livechat, etc.
- Provide support and guidance for your health and well-being via Zoom appointments and web-based information;
- Continue office hours with academic mentors online;
- Maintain access to the online Library materials;
- Deliver department-appropriate assessments online, taking into account the specific needs of quantitative and qualitative programmes;
- Provide support and advice to students resident in LSE and UoL halls of residence;
- Make available hardship funds for vulnerable students adversely affected by the pandemic;
- Offer practical guidance and adopt a sympathetic approach to students seeking to interrupt or defer their studies.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) FAQs
All undergraduate places at LSE have now been filled. LSE will not be participating in Clearing or Adjustment for 2020 entry.
On 3 April, Ofqual published further guidance on how GCSEs, AS & A levels will be awarded in summer 2020. The Gov.UK link tells you more about the process and includes the letter which Ofqual has sent a letter to all students explaining the grading.
The exam boards aim to deliver these grades in August. We will use these grades as the basis for our confirmation decisions. In the meantime, we continue to work with UCAS, exam boards, schools and the rest of the university sector to make the necessary arrangements for our offer holders and to communicate information to you on a regular basis.
If you do less well in one or more of your A-Levels in August you may choose to sit an exam, as soon as it is reasonably possible to do so in Autumn 2020, to improve your grades. If, having taken these exams, you meet or exceed your offer condition to study at LSE, we will guarantee you an offer of a place in 2021, but you must submit a new application through UCAS in the normal way.
We are also monitoring closely the situation with schools overseas and their exam boards.
We appreciate that this is a frustrating and anxious time for our offer holders but please be assured we are doing all we can to support you and to develop processes in this fast moving situation.
The International Baccalaureate has published guidance on how students will be awarded an IB Diploma or Certificate in 2020. The IB website provides more information on this and their grading.
The International Baccalaureate intends to release results to universities and schools as planned on 5 July 2020. LSE will use these grades as the basis for our confirmation decisions, as normal.
Please continue to check this page regularly for the latest information.
No, we will await the grades which will be issued for UK-based students in the summer. Once we have received the grades we will make our decisions on whether or not to confirm offer holders as unconditional.
No, confirmation decisions will be made in the summer using the grades issued by the exam boards following the UCAS process and timetable.
The UK government is discussing with the higher education sector how universities can manage student enrolments in September 2020. However, we want to reassure you that if you meet the conditions of your offer this year we will honour your place.
We will keep you updated as and when further government announcements are made.
We will continue to follow the standard UCAS process and timetable. Offer holders can accept or decline our offer until the 18th June. If UCAS adjusts its processes we may have to change the way we do things. Continue to check our website for the latest information.
Yes. If you receive your last decision on or before 4th June, the UCAS reply deadline has been extended to 18th June.
Whilst we will no longer be holding an on-campus Offer Holders’ Day in 2020 we have created some Virtual Offer Holders’ Day pages. These include departmental information; advice from students and staff; videos and blogs, and the opportunity to ask LSE staff and students questions about life at LSE.
General Offer Holder Frequently Asked Questions
Your offer of admission to the School has been based on the information you provided on, or with, your UCAS application form. It is your responsibility to provide official evidence of your qualifications if we require it (please see your offer letter). If you are unable to provide such evidence, we reserve the right to review, and possibly withdraw, your offer of admission.
No. You may have already declared a qualification we would accept (pending verification), or may be exempt, based on your nationality. However, you are required to clarify your circumstances via the questionnaire in your offer email.
No. The School will not enter into negotiations with successful applicants over the terms of their offer. Each offer has been made taking into consideration all the information included on your UCAS form and the Admissions Selector's decision is final.
It is important that you email the Undergraduate Admissions Office before you drop any subject – even if this subject does not form part of your offer. An Admissions Selector will consider your request and we aim to provide you with a final decision within two weeks.
You can decline your place on the UCAS Track system.
Please refer to our page here for details on how to supply us with any certified documents as part of your offer conditions.
If you have decided you no longer wish to study the programme for which you have been made an offer, then - under exceptional circumstances - you may be able to be considered for a different programme.
If you decide before 15 January that you want your application to be considered for a different programme, you should contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office outlining the reasons for the change. Your application would then be in competition with all other applicants to that programme.
If your request to change programme comes after 15 January, your application will be classed as late. This means that we will only be able to look at your late application if there are still places available on the programme once all on-time applications have been assessed. However for the vast majority of programmes, we do not look at any late applications.
If the Admissions Selector for your new programme choice decides not to offer you a place, or you are happy for your application to be considered as late and we do not look at your late application, your new programme choice will be unsuccessful and you will lose your offer on your original programme choice at LSE.
Please also note that it is not possible for your application to be considered for a programme from which you have already been unsuccessful.
Please notify UCAS and the institutions to which you have applied of your new address in writing as soon as possible. Please note that if you have indicated your term-time address in the correspondence address section of the UCAS application form, do not assume that all correspondence will be automatically sent to your home address once term finishes. You should notify UCAS and the institutions as soon as you leave your term-time address so that all correspondence can be sent to the correct address.
Frequently Asked Questions before registration:
If you wish to defer your entry, you will need to submit a written request (an email will suffice) to the Undergraduate Admissions Office by Friday 17 July at the latest. Requests received after this date will not be considered as UCAS will not allow any institution to make any amendments to applications after 1 August. Your email needs to state your reasons for your request and what you plan to do on your gap year. The Admissions Selector will then consider your request and you will be contacted once a decision has been made. Should your request be granted, your UCAS record will then be changed to reflect your change of year.
We aim to respond to all deferral requests by Friday 31st July.
If your request for deferral is refused, your offer is still valid for 2020.
LSE does not offer the option of a two year deferral, unless the applicant has extenuating circumstances preventing them from beginning their programme in 2020 or 2021. Please note that compulsory National Service is not considered as an extenuating circumstance for two year deferral requests.
If you marginally fail to meet the conditions of your offer, your application is automatically referred back to the Admissions Selector for reconsideration in August. Your application is then considered in competition with all the other applicants who have marginally failed to meet the conditions of their offer. There is no guarantee that LSE will be able to confirm your place at the School.
We will send our decision to UCAS as soon as possible, so please do not contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office as it may delay the processing of your application.
If you plan to ask for a re-mark for any of your exams, then you should inform the Undergraduate Admissions Office as soon as possible. For speed, you should ask for a priority re-mark from the relevant exam board/s.
The office needs to receive official confirmation of the results of your re-mark by 7 September 2021 at the very latest. Providing your re-mark grades meet the original grade conditions of your offer, we will overturn the unsuccessful decision and your offer will be reinstated. If no vacancies are available for the current year of entry then the School reserves the right to offer a deferred place as an alternative. Please note: we will be unable to reinstate offers if we receive revised grades after 7 September 2021.
We understand that circumstances can arise which have a detrimental impact on exam performance. If you marginally miss the conditions of your offer at Confirmation, the School is only able to give due consideration to those with severe extenuating circumstances. However, we can only consider information regarding extenuating circumstances which has been sent to us by 30 June 2020 for applicants studying the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and 31 July 2020 for all other qualifications, including any corroborating evidence that you can offer such as a doctor's note, a note from your school or other official documentation.
It is highly unlikely that we will be able to consider any appeals which are received after results have been published, as many of our candidates meet, if not exceed the conditions of their offer and we do not have the places to admit additional students at this stage.
Therefore if you feel that your exam performance has been affected, you should contact us in writing by 30 June (for the IBDP) or 31 July (for all other qualifications).
It is also advisable for your school to notify the examination boards of any such extenuating circumstances, along with relevant medical notes, as they can then be taken into consideration when your scripts are being marked.
If you cannot provide certified documentation of a recognised English language qualification, we will not be able to confirm your place at the School. If you cannot meet this deadline for any reason, it is important that you inform us before 7 September 2020.
Please refer to the information at the top of this page for the latest guidance and advice on our deadlines.
Note for international students: Submitting your certified documentation late can result in delays in issuing your CAS number to the Home Office, which you will require to apply for your visa. It is important that you apply for your visa early enough to allow sufficient time for you to attend Registration. More details can be found on the LSE International Student Visa Advice Team (ISVAT) website.