Applying for university through UCAS can be a confusing experience! To help ease this, we spoke to our admissions officer Mike to find out some frequently asked questions about the process, through UCAS and at UCW.
How do I apply?
Register in the UCAS Hub and complete the registration questions – confirm the year you want to start your studies and that you’re interested in ‘Undergraduate’ level of study. You’ll then be taken to your UCAS Hub dashboard, where you’ll see a tile called ‘Your application’. Simply click ‘Start’ to begin your application. Before you can submit your application, you’ll need to pay an application fee of £28.50 for up to five choices.
Free school meals – application fee waived: For the 2025 cycle, if you have been in receipt of free school meals at some point during the last six years (during your secondary education) up until the end of your final year, you will be eligible to have your application fee waived.
What are entry requirements?
Entry requirements vary between universities and colleges – a full list of universities and colleges and their minimum entry criteria can be found on the UCAS search tool. If you are unsure you meet a university/college’s criteria, it is best to contact their admissions team for further guidance.
What is the UCAS Tariff?
The UCAS Tariff is a way of allocating points to qualifications. Not all qualifications attract UCAS Tariff points for various reasons. The university or college you’re interested in may accept your qualifications as an appropriate entry route, even if they don’t attract UCAS Tariff points.
What happens if I withdraw a choice, then change my mind later?
If you withdraw a choice, it will not be available to you later and the university or college won’t be able to access your application. So, you need to be sure you no longer want to be considered for this place. It’s also important to know that if you withdraw a choice, you will not be able to replace it with another.
If you accidently withdrew a choice and still want to be considered by the university, you must contact UCAS immediately for advice. There are no guarantees they the university will still be able to consider your application, as the course may be full, or the place offered to another person.
An offer I received direct from a university or college is not displayed in my application. What should I do?
This means your university or college has not told us about your offer. As soon as we receive it, you will be able to see it in your application. If two or three weeks have passed since you were given the offer, you should contact the university or college to discuss it.
I am still waiting for a decision from at least one of my choices – is this normal?
Each university or college you applied to has a deadline by which they must decide on your application. This is displayed on Your choices page.
As each university and college has their own criteria and ways of working, they’ll make their decisions and get back to you at different times. It’s not unusual to be waiting for a decision from one or two universities or colleges significantly longer than others! Sometimes they’ll make and update their decisions on your application quickly, or it may take a few months.
The deadline we give them varies depending on when you applied:
- If you applied on or before the January deadline, the universities have until May to give their decisions.
- If you applied after the January deadline, their deadline for decisions is extended to mid-July.
Not all universities and colleges will send you confirmation that they’ve received your application. We send you a welcome email confirming your application has been sent to your choices, so this is proof they’ve received it. If the university is listed in the Your choices section of your application, they have received a copy of it.
I made an error when replying to my offers. Is it possible to change my replies?
In some circumstances you can change your replies.
If you replied in the last 14 days, UCAS for advice about changing your replies.
If you replied more than 14 days ago, you need to obtain permission from all the affected universities and colleges – these are the ones where you accepted a place, as well as the one you previously declined, but now want to accept.
What information will I need to complete my application?
- Certificates / Predicted Grades
- Employment History (Dates and Address)
Ready to apply? Find our courses here! Need more information about applying? Click here.
