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Find answers to the questions we hear most often about Puddin Admissions. If your question isn’t answered here, contact Puddin support via the Help menu in your account or reach out to your institution’s admissions team.
No. Once an applicant clicks Confirm and Submit, their personal statement is locked immediately. The document and the full writing process record captured during writing are finalised at that point and cannot be changed.If an applicant contacts you saying they submitted in error or needs to make a correction, the decision of whether to allow a resubmission rests entirely with your institution — it is not something Puddin can grant automatically. If you decide to permit a resubmission, contact Puddin support to unlock the submission. Note that the original submission and its writing process record will be preserved in the audit trail.
Puddin saves writing progress automatically every few seconds. If an applicant’s internet connection drops, the browser crashes, or they close the tab unexpectedly, their work up to the last auto-save is preserved. When they return and open Puddin again, they can continue from where they left off.The interrupted session is recorded in the session timeline as a separate session. This is normal and is not treated as unusual writing behaviour by the platform.If an applicant loses a significant amount of work due to a connection problem, they should contact your admissions team as soon as possible with details of the issue.
Yes. An applicant’s email address can be added to any number of different cycles. Each cycle maintains a completely independent record of that applicant — their invitation status, writing sessions, submitted document, and review signals are all separate per cycle.Within a single cycle, however, an email address can only appear once. Puddin will flag duplicate email addresses during CSV import and skip them.
When a submission is assigned to a reviewer, Puddin sends them an email notification immediately. The email includes the applicant’s name and programme, a direct link to the review interface for that submission, and the review deadline if one has been set for the cycle.Reviewers also see all their assigned submissions when they log in to Puddin on the My Reviews dashboard. You can configure whether reviewer notification emails are sent in Admin → Institutional Settings → Notifications.
Yes — Admissions Officers can amend a recorded decision at any time. To do so, open the submission, click Edit Decision, select the updated outcome, and save.Puddin preserves the full decision history in the audit trail. Both the original decision and any amendments are recorded with timestamps and user attribution, so there is always a complete, traceable record of how a decision evolved. No decision data is permanently deleted when an amendment is made.
Applicants can see their own personal statement and its submission status through the Puddin writing environment. They cannot see review signals, reviewer notes, review decisions, or any data from other applicants.If your institution receives a Subject Access Request (SAR) from an applicant under GDPR or equivalent legislation, you are responsible for determining what data from Puddin falls within scope of that request. Puddin’s audit log and export tools can help you compile the relevant data. Contact Puddin support for guidance on responding to SARs involving Puddin data.
By default, applicant data (including submitted personal statements and writing process records) is retained for 3 years from the date the admissions cycle closes. Audit log entries are retained for 7 years by default.Administrators can adjust the data retention period for applicant data in Admin → Institutional Settings → Data Retention, within the limits set by Puddin’s policy. Changes to retention settings take effect immediately, and any data outside the new window will be scheduled for permanent deletion.Your institution is responsible for ensuring that its chosen retention period complies with applicable data protection regulations, including GDPR.
Puddin is designed with data protection in mind. Puddin acts as a data processor on behalf of your institution, which is the data controller for applicant personal data processed through the platform. A Data Processing Agreement (DPA) is available as part of your institution’s contract with Puddin and governs how Puddin handles that data.Key features supporting GDPR compliance include:
  • Configurable data retention periods
  • Full audit logging of all data access and actions
  • Export and deletion tools to support Subject Access Requests and Right to Erasure requests
  • Data stored in EU-based infrastructure by default (contact Puddin support to confirm your specific hosting region)
For detailed information about Puddin’s data protection practices, refer to Puddin’s Privacy Policy and your institution’s DPA.
Yes. Each admissions cycle can have its own custom writing prompt displayed to applicants in the Puddin writing environment. Set or edit the prompt in your cycle settings under Cycles → [Cycle Name] → Settings → Writing Prompt.The prompt appears at the top of the applicant’s writing area throughout their writing sessions as a reference. It does not form part of the submitted document. If no prompt is configured, a generic instruction to write the personal statement is shown.
Puddin accepts standard CSV files (comma-separated values) encoded in UTF-8. The file must use the column headers provided in the Puddin CSV template, which you can download from Applicants → Import → Download Template.Required columns are: first_name, last_name, email, and programme. The optional column reference_number can also be included.Common formatting pitfalls to avoid:
  • Do not save as Excel format (.xlsx) — save explicitly as CSV
  • Ensure the file is UTF-8 encoded (in Excel: File → Save As → CSV UTF-8)
  • Do not include merged cells, extra header rows, or columns not in the template
  • Do not wrap values in quotation marks unless the value contains a comma