Statement on 2016/17 applications
Release Date 15 August 2016
At 6.30am on Sunday 14 August, the University of Reading sent an automated email in error to 359 undergraduate conditional offer holders confirming that they now had unconditional offers for a place with us.
This first wave of confirmation emails should not have been sent until the morning of Thursday 18 August.
The University identified the issue quickly and immediately referred itself for investigation to UCAS. UCAS sets a formal embargo where no university can confirm places until 6.00am on Thursday 18 August, which all universities are required to respect.
We have taken urgent steps to identify the underlying systems issue and put robust measures in place with automated IT systems to prevent any repeat.
The emails did not disclose any specific A-level or other qualification results ahead of formal results being confirmed on Thursday 18 August by the exam awarding bodies. All personal information remains secure.
We have emailed each applicant affected, apologising that the confirmation was sent in error before the end of the embargo period. We have reassured each student that their unconditional offer of a place is unaffected. Our undergraduate admissions telephone helpline is open for students with queries.
We will confirm decisions for all remaining 5,500 applicants who hold firm or insurance offers with the University of Reading on Thursday 18 August. The 359 are a small proportion of the applicants we will be formally offering places to this week.