Terms and conditions for use of the UCAS network

1. About UCAS

1.1 We are the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, a company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 02839815 whose registered office is at Rosehill, New Barn Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3LZ (‘UCAS’, ‘we’, ‘us’).

1.2 You can contact us by telephone on 0371 468 0 468, using our contact us page, or in writing to the above address.

1.3 Our role is to provide admissions services across a range of subject areas and study modes for education providers.

2. Changes to the Terms

2.1 We reserve the right at all times to vary, change, alter, amend, add to or remove any of these Terms. Please ensure that you review these Terms each time you use the Website as you will be deemed to have accepted a variation if you continue to use the Website after the variation has been posted.

2.2 The current draft of these Terms was adopted and published on 20 April 2016.

3. Information about you and visits to the Website

3.1 We process information about you in accordance with our privacy policy. By using the Website, you consent to such processing and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

3.2 You will be asked to register, using certain personal details, before being given access to certain areas of our Website, including in order to make an application to an education provider using our Apply service. We may use the details you provide in future to contact you in accordance with our privacy policy. You agree to disclose true and complete information during the account registration process, and to update your information if and when it changes. Your use of our ‘Apply’ service is governed by the Declaration.

4. Access to and use of our Website

4.1 You may only use the Website for lawful purposes. When using the Website, you must not:

4.1.1 decrypt, extract, disassemble, reverse-engineer or decompile the Website

4.1.2 use the Website in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect

4.1.3 include any portion of the Website in any other software program

4.1.4 develop methods to enable unauthorised parties to use the Website

4.1.5 create any modifications or derivative works directly or indirectly using the Website, or components thereof

4.1.6 knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware of the Website

4.1.7 damage, interfere with or disrupt the Website in any way

4.1.8 use the Website or information obtained from the Website to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam)

4.1.9 use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful, improper or illegal, or in breach of any, or for the purpose of breaching any, law

4.1.10 use the Website in a way which infringes the rights of or harasses anyone else, is harmful to, or otherwise restricts or inhibits anyone else's use and enjoyment of the Website

4.1.11 use the Website to impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity

4.1.12 post comments about yourself which are not in good faith and in accordance with your honestly held beliefs

4.1.13 use the Website for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way

4.1.14 use contact details obtained using the Website to harass any person

4.2 Access to the Website is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on our Website without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. 

4.3 We will use our reasonable endeavours to make the Website available but cannot guarantee that the Website will operate continuously or without interruption or be error-free. You must not attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website and, in particular, you must not attempt to circumvent security, tamper with, hack into, or otherwise disrupt any computer system, server, website, router or any other internet connected device. You are also advised to use the appropriate antivirus software before and during access to the Website.

4.4 We reserve the right, at any time and for any reason or none, to suspend or terminate your access to, or use of, the Website, or any part thereof. We may also restrict access to some parts of our Website to users who have registered with us.

4.5 Where you choose or are provided with a Personal ID, code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. Please ensure that you log off when not using the Website and ensure that devices which you use to access the Website are securely locked when not in your possession. You must notify us if you suspect there has been any unauthorised use of your Personal ID, code or password or any other breach of security.

4.6 We have the right to disable any Personal ID, code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms. We will not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever resulting from the disclosure of your Personal ID, code or password contrary to these Terms. 

5. Intellectual property rights 

5.1 We are the owner or licensee of all copyright and other intellectual property rights in any material contained on the Website.

5.2 You may access any part of the Website and download or copy material (by printing off individual pages onto paper) or download material on to disk (but not on to any server or other device connected to a network) for personal non-commercial use only. The intellectual property rights in such material shall be retained by UCAS or, where the material has been licensed to UCAS, by the owners of the rights in the material. Copying, distributing or any use of the material contained on the Website for any commercial purpose is prohibited.

5.3 The Website contains trademarks which belong to UCAS or which have been licensed to UCAS by the trademark owners. Any use of these trademarks by you is forbidden unless prior written permission has been obtained from the trademark owner. UCAS will take legal action against any individual or organisation which seeks to use UCAS' name, material, logos or trademarks for unlawful purposes.

5.4 You may not remove any copyright, trademark or intellectual property notices contained in the original material from any material downloaded or copied from the Website.

5.5 Links to the Website are not permitted, other than links to the homepage for your personal use, except with our prior written permission. Links to the website from within a frameset definition are not permitted except with our prior written permission.

5.6 You may not create a database by systematically downloading substantial parts of the Website.

5.7 The data we make available through our website, in the 'Data and analysis' section, that is provided in an open data format (typically CSV), is licensed subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License, as amended from time to time.

5.8 Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms, or any document referenced in them, are reserved to UCAS.

6. Uploading content to the Website

6.1 When you are invited to upload video content you have created (‘Content’) you can do this by submitting it to us via our web form. UCAS is not liable for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind or lost, inconsistent or unavailable network connections that may limit or prohibit Content being uploaded. We may use any Content you upload, but we cannot promise to. You warrant that you are legally entitled to post the Content and to grant to us the licence referred to in clause 6.3 below.

6.2 By uploading video content you confirm that it is your own work. You undertake that, prior to uploading any Content to our Website, you have permission, including any assignments, waivers, licences, rights, consents, and permissions (‘Permissions’) in respect of anyone else's rights in or to the Content (including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights, moral rights, performance rights (which include any music used in your video) rights to privacy, image rights and publicity rights), which give you (and us, relying on your agreement to these Terms) the right to immediately use, publish, reproduce, distribute, produce derivative works of, edit, perform, display and broadcast the uploaded Content in any media formats and through any media channels without liability to any third party. UCAS reserves the right to require proof that all necessary Permissions have been given and you agree, on request, to provide written evidence of those Permissions (including parental consent if necessary) and perform such acts as UCAS may reasonably require.

6.3 When you upload or post Content to our website, you: 

6.3.1 grant to us an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence (with right to sub-license) to use, publish, reproduce, distribute, produce derivative works of, display, broadcast and perform the Content in part or as a whole, in any media formats and through any media channels

6.3.2 waive all moral rights in the Content

6.4 You agree that you will not upload any Content which is illegal, defamatory, obscene, incites prejudice or hatred or which it is unlawful for you to possess in the country in which you are resident, or which it would be unlawful for us to use or to hold.

6.5 If you are under 16 years of age, then by uploading Content you confirm that you have the permission of your parent or guardian to do so.

6.6 You warrant that any Content uploaded by you shall fully comply with these Terms, and you will be liable to us and indemnify us for any breach of that warranty. If you are in any doubt about your Content or whether or not (being under 16 years) you have your parent's or guardian's permission, then you should not upload it.

6.7 We shall be entitled to disclose your identity to any third party who claims that any Content uploaded by you infringes their rights.

7. Links to other websites

7.1 UCAS provides links to website and other resources provided by third parties, and aims to link to websites that we feel will enhance your experience by offering useful background knowledge, specialist advice and information, and informed commentary and views. We only provide links to websites which we hope enhance your experience of using the Website; please tell us if they don’t. When linking to third party websites, we use an icon ( ) to make it clear you are leaving our Website.

7.2 The existence of links from the Website to external websites does not mean that we endorse or promote those websites, the views of their developers, products or services made available on them. We have no control over the content of those external websites or other third party resources, and accept no responsibility for and exclude all liability that may arise with respect to them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

7.3 We receive no payment or payment in kind in respect of websites or other resources to which links are provided. If content is sponsored, part of UCAS Student Discounts, or if it is included within the context of an advert, we make this clear. We normally link to content which is free to access, but you may sometimes be asked to register or subscribe to an offer or service once you leave the Website, by the operator of a linked website. We will not link to websites which require you to pay before you view the content on them.

7.4 We fix or remove missing, broken, or redirected links whenever we find them. If you spot anything which isn’t working in the way you would expect it to, please let us know.

8. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

8.1 UCAS has taken care to ensure that the information on the Website is correct. However, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to: (i) its accuracy; or (ii) its availability, and UCAS does not accept any liability for error or omission. UCAS is not responsible for how the information is used, how it is interpreted or what reliance is placed on it. We do not guarantee that the information on the Website is fit for any particular purpose. You should also be aware that the availability of courses of study is subject to conditions applied by individual institutions at their sole discretion.

8.2 The content of the Website is for general information only and does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation upon which a specific decision should be made. UCAS has taken steps to ensure the materials contained on its Website are current and accurate, but to the fullest extent permitted by law UCAS hereby excludes any warranty, whether express or implied, by statute at common law or otherwise, relating to the Website and the material contained on the Website. In particular (but without limitation of the above), UCAS gives no warranties as to quality, accuracy, timeliness, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose of the Website or of the material contained in it.

8.3 To the fullest extent permitted by law, UCAS shall not be liable for any claims, costs, penalties, loss (whether direct, indirect or consequential and whether economic or special loss of any nature), damages or expenses arising from the use or from the inability to use the Website. UCAS does not accept liability from reliance on information or advice contained on the Website or from any unauthorised access or alteration to the Website by a third party.

8.4 Whilst the Website may from time to time contain advertising material, UCAS does not endorse or accept any liability for any of the products or services so advertised, or for any error or inaccuracy in the advertisements. Advertisers and sponsors are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion on the Website complies with all relevant laws.

8.5 We shall have no liability to you for any breach of these Terms caused by any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control, including, without limitation, strikes, lock-outs, or other industrial disputes, breakdown of systems or network access, or flood, fire, explosion or accident.

8.6 Nothing in these Terms shall exclude liability for death or personal injury directly caused by our negligence, nor any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. 

9. General

9.1 These Terms are not intended to confer any benefit on a third party under the provision of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

9.2 These Terms shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or other matters arising therefrom, without prejudice to UCAS' right to bring proceedings in the courts of the country of residence of any user of the Website.

9.3 If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of that provision will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms which shall continue to have full force and effect.

9.4 The failure by us to exercise any right or remedy under these terms and conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that right or remedy.

Last updated: 13 February 2019