UCAS Explained

UCAS. You've probably heard it being mentioned here, there and everywhere, but what exactly is it? What does it offer? How does it work? How can you make the most out of it?

Hopefully, I should be able to answer some of those questions for you here:

What is UCAS?

Short for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, UCAS is an online portal that takes you through the process of applying to universities. It also offers advice and can act as a great source of information on the courses available.

How does it work?

To get started on UCAS, your school or college will hopefully have set up an account for you. If you haven't received any information on this yet, it might be because you don't need it yet or you have to set one up on your own. Either way, it's worth asking your teacher if you're not sure. If you are applying as an individual, the process may be a little different, but you can always call up UCAS if you have any specific questions. You can then use your account to pick up to five uni choices and write your personal statement. Finally, your predicted grades, references and (eventually) final grades will be put on your profile to give your prospective unis a complete picture of you as a student.

What are the UCAS deadlines?

The deadlines for applying to university differ depending on where you are applying but for 2019/20, the deadlines are:

• 6pm 15th October 2019 - Deadline for Oxford, Cambridge and most courses in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and veterinary science.

• 6pm 15th January 2020 - Deadline for most undergraduate courses

• 25th February 2020 - Extra starts applications open

• 6pm 30th June 2020 - Final deadline for undergraduate applications. All applications sent after this date will be entered into clearing.

• 5th July 2020 - Final deadline for adding an extra choice.

• 31st August 2020 - Final deadline for making adjustments. Universities might not accept applications after this date.

• 6pm 21st September 2020 - Final deadline for applying to any courses starting in 2020.

• 20th October 2020 - Final deadline for adding clearing choices and for universities to accept clearing applicants.

What is an Extra?

If you don't receive any offers from your initial five choices, or you reject the offers you do receive, you are allowed to apply to more university courses. You can only apply to one at a time and must wait until they don't offer you a place or you reject their offer before you can apply to another course.

What are UCAS Tariff points?

UCAS tariff points (also known as UCAS points) is a way of scoring each of your qualifications. This means that you can measure different qualifications on the same measure. Some universities use the tariff point system to award offers as opposed to specific grade requirements. You can calculate your tariff points here.

I have more questions, what should I do?

If you have any questions about UCAS, most of them should already be answered on the UCAS website. If you've searched for it and can't find anything, you can get in touch with someone by visiting their contact us page.