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Key documents

News and insights

Find key information from UCAS, including our corporate strategy, Annual Report, and End of Cycle Reports.

UCAS' corporate strategy

We have updated our strategy, after gathering the views of more than 450 employees, and 1,000 students, schools, colleges, universities, and higher education sector bodies.

Discover your future is the result of an investment in more than 300 hours of customer and stakeholder engagement, spread across around 400 individual interactions.

At the heart of Discover your future is our vision: to connect people to their future. 

There are six strategic objectives we want to achieve for our customers by 2025:

  1. Discover choices: Empower people to discover the next step on their learning journey by providing accessible, insightful and inspirational information, advice and guidance across all higher education pathways, including apprenticeships.
  2. Trusted and flexible admissions: Be an innovator and reformer, delivering a trusted, flexible and growing admissions and connection service that can adapt to the needs of our customers.
  3. Data-led insights: Be an expert, data-led voice on the student journey to inform the UK’s approach to higher education and apprenticeships, especially in relation to improving the support for disadvantaged applicants.
  4. International: Be a global gateway to higher education in the UK.
  5. Sustainable growth: Deliver an efficient and joined-up service that delivers value to its customers, while also generating income from commercial activities in support of UCAS’ charitable objectives and ambitions.
  6. Employer of choice: Be an employer of choice where colleagues feel they can flourish, perform, achieve, and belong.
     

Our objectives will be underpinned by our values – be ambitious, be smart, be inclusive, and be trusted. 

Read Discover your future in full here

Annual gender pay gap report

UCAS supports gender pay gap reporting, believing that transparency promotes the opportunity for positive growth and change. This document covers:

  • our findings
  • why we have a pay gap here at UCAS
  • gender distribution and pay gap at senior levels
  • our commitment and the steps we will take to address this gap

Annual Report and Accounts

This document covers public benefit statement; details of Directors and advisers; principal activities; total staff pay; Executive Directors pay (by band); highest paid Director; acquisitions and disposals; key accounting policies; Directors' interests (if any) in contracts.​

If you require a copy of a previous year's UCAS Annual Report, please send your request to communications@ucas.ac.uk.

Articles of Association

This is UCAS' constitutional document which sets out the charitable objects, and covers the regulations for the operations of UCAS and the responsibilities of the Board of Trustees.

UCAS Impact Report 

Our Impact Report captures our achievements throughout 2018, of which we are immensely proud. We have delivered our new postgraduate application management service, increased flexibility in our operation of the admissions cycle, and increased transparency in undergraduate admissions, by publishing more data points and analysis than ever before.

We also saw an encouraging 3% increase in student satisfaction with UCAS services, reflecting the investments in relaunching student-facing information and advice through our different channels, including social media. We’ve also worked hard to ensure our business is financially stable and efficient, so we can invest in further enhancements for our customers.

Code of Practice for Statistics

In September 2019, UCAS voluntarily adopted to comply with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics, committing to the quality, trustworthiness, and value of our analytical work.

UCAS Undergraduate End of Cycle Reports

Our Undergraduate End of Cycle Reports provide independent in-depth analysis and insight about who’s applying and getting into HE, changing patterns of recruitment, and the impacts of qualification, market reforms, and widening participation and access activities, drawing on our many years of expertise in this area.

Outcomes of the International Admissions Review (IAR) consultation 2014

Following a period of analysis, research and engagement with the sector, we issued the IAR consultation in April 2014. It received an excellent response from stakeholders across the education sector, with organisations making considered and detailed responses. The  International Admissions Review – Findings and Recommendations report provides a detailed summary of the responses received and outlines proposals for implementation.

Recommendations were broadly supported, with some key priorities emerging:

  • the capability to upload digital documents
  • a review of current UCAS deadlines
  • improving information and advice for international and EU applicants

The consultation responses also emphasised the need for us to enhance our services to all applicants, not just international applicants.

Thank you to everyone who responded or participated in the review. We welcome your continued engagement to ensure any proposals are successful for everyone concerned, particularly applicants. Please email us at international@ucas.ac.uk if you have any questions or comments on the outcome of the International Admissions Review, or if you have any suggestions to support the implementation of any of the proposed recommendations.

Highlights from applicant surveys conducted in 2012

In 2012, UCAS surveyed over 46,000 students to find out what they think about a range of issues that influence their education choices.

UCAS Admissions Process Review Consultation

This report is presented for consultation on behalf of the UCAS Board.

  • It's the culmination of six months' work by the UCAS Admissions Process Review Team and Steering Group.
  • It represents the first comprehensive review of an admissions process that has served the higher education sector and applicants well for 50 years since the inception of UCCA in 1961.

UCAS Admissions Process Review Consultation findings and recommendations

  • We believe implementing these recommendations will deliver real improvements in the centralised admissions process for entry to UK undergraduate courses of higher education for all users of the system.
  • This includes applicants, those who prepare and advise them, and the course providers that seek to admit students.

UCAS Qualifications Information Review Consultation

This consultation represents a comprehensive review of qualifications information needs.

  • Including the needs of higher education providers, schools, colleges and advisers and applicants to higher education.

UCAS Qualifications Information Review Findings and Recommendations 

This report sets out our recommendations and next steps following the Qualifications Information Review and Consultation.

  • We believe implementing these recommendations will deliver real benefits to students, teachers and advisers, and higher education providers.
  • We aim to provide more consistent, comparable and searchable information about qualifications to better inform admissions to higher education.

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