Hi all,

if a university waits till the last minute to send you a decision letter, does it normally indicate that you are rejected? do they normally inform those who are admitted earlier, and wait till when the applicants accept or reject the offer before sending out the rest of the decision letters?

That's usually the case. Sometimes they will tell you unofficially by e-mail and say that there is an official letter in the post!
Sometimes they will tell you whats happening during the process - e.g. if you are reserve etc... but that doesn't usually happen in my experience! Good luck

I was told I was a reserve when I applied for one particular 4-year studentship. They won't all do that and it's likely you're either a reserve or they just need more time to make a decision. They will generally wait until the application deadline has passed plus 1 or 2 weeks.