Navigating the application process

Courses have different deadlines and start dates, so encourage your students to start their research early to maximise their chances of meeting application deadlines and making a successful application.

Applications can be started in May and sent to us in September – a year in advance of when they hope to start the course.

• Check the undergraduate section of our website to see everything your students need to do to apply.
• You can check the separate procedures for practice-based performing arts (UCAS Conservatoires), or if it’s a later phase of the student’s higher education, we have postgraduate and graduate teacher training application routes too.
• Get your students to register in the UCAS Hub early and we’ll send them reminders about our key dates and deadlines.

Check out our 2025 toolkit for resources and tools to help you with this part of the process.

If your school, college or centre isn’t already registered as a UCAS centre, that’s the first thing to do.

Then you’ll get adviser access to our free adviser portal– here you can oversee your students’ applications. You will be able to:

• monitor progress on how much of the application your students have completed
• create, edit and approve their references (see guidance on reference writing)
• check that the qualifications they have entered are correct
• check, approve and submit their application to UCAS on their behalf
• make secure payments on their behalf
• set up application fee options for your students (student pays on submitting to you or UCAS invoices the school)

How to use the adviser portal

Applications can only be sent to us once the applicant has completed it and sent it to your centre, you have approved it, and a completed reference has been attached and approved in the adviser portal.

When applications are in this state, they will show as ‘Ready to send’ in the application management section of the adviser portal.

Only members of staff with permission can send applications to UCAS. Once sent, these applications will be listed as ‘sent to UCAS’ in the application management section of the adviser portal. 

Please note: Once an application is sent to UCAS, it cannot be returned to the student or centre.

Applicants can cancel their application and get a full refund of their application fee within 14 days of sending it to us. Applications can be cancelled after this period, but a refund will not be issued.

We have a dedicated Verification Team tasked with the prevention and detection of fraud in applications and similarity in personal statements.

We screen applications in our Hunter fraud detection system

• If any of your applicants are found to have provided false and/or misleading information, or if we identify missing information, their application could be cancelled.
• In order to check if their application is true, complete and accurate, we may, at any time, ask the applicant, their adviser, their employer or their referee for more information.

We screen all personal statements in our Copycatch similarity detection system

• If any of your applicants have written a personal statement which is found to have similar content to another personal statement, their application will be flagged.
• The applicant – together with their chosen universities, colleges and/or conservatoires – will receive an email alert and there will be a link above their course details in the adviser portal.
• A personal statement which is found to contain copied text may result in the entire application being withdrawn without a refund.

Our adviser portal gives you oversight of your students’ applications in one system, for free!

When supporting your students who are about to move on to higher education, it’s useful to understand their rights. Take a look at our  Competition and Markets Authority guide (110.91 KB) and advice for applicants for important things you and your students should be aware of.