About us

UCAS is an independent charity providing information, advice, and admissions services to inspire and facilitate educational progression. Our services support young people making choices after their GCSEs, as well as those applying for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Our income comes from:

  • application fees paid by applicants
  • capitation fees paid by universities and colleges for each student who is accepted
  • income generated by our wholly-owned subsidiary, UCAS Media Ltd, which gift-aids its profits to the charity

We don’t receive any direct financial support from the government, so our commercial activities help us deliver our charitable objectives, whilst keeping costs down for students and education providers.

We are governed by a Board of Trustees, the majority of whom are leaders of higher or further education providers.