Website of the UK government

Registering your application

Applications to UCAS can only be made online. To register an application through a school, college or careers organisation you will need their 'buzzword'. If you are applying as an individual you do not need one. After registering you will be given a username and asked to enter your own password.

You can register in the summer before you plan to make your online application. The earliest you can submit a finished application is the September before you want to start your course, unless you are applying for deferred entry (for example, applying in the 2010 cycle for 2011 entry).

If you choose to defer your place until 2011, you will still need to meet any conditions (for example, qualification grades) by the end of August 2010.

• Register for online application Opens new window

Completing the UCAS application

There are seven sections on the application: personal details, additional information (for UK applicants only), choices, education, employment, personal statement and reference. In the choices section, you can list up to five courses.

The application has an A to Z list of universities and higher education colleges, and also course codes, so you just have to click and select.

• More on how to apply from UCAS Opens new window

Personal statement and employment sections

Your personal statement should cover why you are interested in the courses you’ve applied for, and what you hope to do after your studies.

In the employment section, you can list your part-time or summer jobs.

• Personal statements: more from UCAS Opens new window

Referees

Once you've completed all sections of your application, click 'Send to referee' so the person who's acting as a referee can check your details and add their reference. If you're not at school or college and are applying independently, paste your referee's reference into the online application.

• Getting a reference: more from UCAS
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UCAS application fee and deadlines

For 2010 entry, it costs £19 to apply through UCAS, or £9 if you only apply for one course.

For most courses, you’ll need to get your application to UCAS by 15 January in order to be considered ‘on time’ (so about nine months prior to courses starting in September). However, you must apply by 15 October if you're studying medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science, or if you're applying to the universities of Oxford or Cambridge.

The deadline for some art and design courses is 24 March.

Whichever course you're applying for, UCAS advises students to apply well before the deadline. However, you can still apply through UCAS up to the end of June. Universities and colleges may still consider your application, but the most popular courses may already be full. If you apply after the end of June, you’ll automatically go into Clearing.

• Important dates for your diary from UCAS Opens new window

• Clearing: last-minute places at university or college

Personal ID and password

Once UCAS has processed your application, you get a Personal ID. You can use this, in combination with your username and password, to track the progress of your application. You also get a welcome letter in the post.

What happens next?

Once you've made your UCAS application, you can apply for financial help as soon as student finance applications open. You don't need to wait for an offer.

See ‘Student finance' for more on financial support, and the ‘Guide to higher education admissions through UCAS’ for details on what happens once you’ve submitted your application.

• Student finance

• A guide to higher education admissions through UCAS