UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service) is an agency operating in higher education in the UK. It acts as a clearing house for applications for virtually all undergraduate degree programmes in UK universities and other degree-awarding institutions.
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As nearly all British higher education institutions are members of UCAS, nearly all those wishing to study for first degrees in the UK have to apply through UCAS. This applies to all categories of applicants - UK residents, residents of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, European Union citizens and international applicants. They submit a single application via UCAS's website (or, until the 2005 entry only, on paper) with a list of up to six universities or other higher education institutions to which they are applying (in no order of preference). The application is then forwarded by UCAS to those institutions, who decide whether to make an offer of a place. Offers are either conditional, i.e. dependent on future examination performance, or unconditional. Students then choose a firm and insurance offer. If they meet the conditional offer of their firm choice then they have a definite place at that institution. Final decisions are generally made in mid-August, when the results of the A-level and Higher Grade examinations become available.
UCAS imposes a uniform and fairly rigid timetable on the undergraduate applications process, the deadline is normally January 15th. However, applications to Oxbridge and for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science have an earlier deadline, usually October 15th. Additionally, both Oxford and Cambridge require their own application form to be filled in and returned directly to them. Those applying for art and design 'Route B' courses normally have until March 15th to apply.
The system is sophisticated and allows for many different routes. Its advantages for both applicants and institutions are that it eliminates duplication of effort, and provides a fair and consistent framework within which both applicants and institutions can compete.
UCAS has a tariff system (more commonly known as UCAS points), which allows qualifications to be converted into points (an A at A Level, for example, is worth 120 points) and then added together to give a total that is can be used as a requirement to get into a course (a course may require 260 points, for example). The UCAS Tariff covers all UK qualifications, but also covers some foreign qualifications too. In the 2006 entry season the Leaving Certificate (Ireland) will be admitted to the UCAS Tariff so that it can be placed on direct parity with other awards that are on the tariff list. This will allow students who undertake the Leaving Certificate in Ireland to follow a simpler and more consistent access to British universities, currently each university in the UK decides the merit of the award in accordance with its own criteria.
The major exception to the rule of application through UCAS comes at the very end of the admissions season, when courses are about to begin. After the announcement of A-level results, UCAS runs a process called clearing to match applicants without places at their chosen institutions with courses elsewhere that still have places available. However once UCAS's clearing operation is complete, institutions with available places do advertise publicly, and some students find places by direct application at that stage.
The statistics on numbers of applications provided by the UCAS process provide a sensitive indicator of the relative popularity of institutions and academic disciplines, and on national and regional patterns of supply and demand for higher education. They are studied in depth by university managers and those concerned with higher education policy.
UCAS has never operated within the field of postgraduate education, where application procedures are much less uniform. However, UCAS do operate two postgraduate clearing houses: GTTR (Graduate Teacher Training Registry) for PGCE courses (which provide initial teacher training for graduates) and SWAS (Social Work Admissions System) for social work courses. They also operate NMAS (Nursing and Midwifery Admissions Service) for nursing and midwifery courses (which are not postgraduate).
There are also national clearing houses for applications for a number of other particular types of postgraduate education, including clinical psychology.
UCAS was formed in 1993 by the merger of UCCA (Universities Central Council on Admissions), PCAS (Polytechnics Central Admissions System) and SCUE (Standing Conference on University Entrance).
In recent years UCAS has been involved in a number of scandals. In 2001 UCAS accidentally made publicly downloadable from their website a database of applicants' personal details. In 2002 it incorrectly interpreted results data it has been given by the Scottish Qualifications Authority which led to UCAS informing universities and students that the students had obtained higher marks then they actually had.
In 2004 UCAS announced they were scrapping paper applications in favour of online applications for the 2006 entry onwards (previously applicants could choose between the two options).