Safeguarding overview for ucas.com

The safety and welfare of everyone working with, and engaged in UCAS' activities, especially children, is our highest priority. As an organisation with a vision of "All who could benefit from higher education, do" which seeks to support applicants in their journey to higher education opportunities, we interact with many under-18-year-old students when they access UCAS’ services or come into contact with UCAS during our events and other activities.

It is therefore vital that UCAS adopts a robust approach to fulfilling our safeguarding obligations towards children, to ensure that they come to no harm through their interaction with us.

All employees, trustees, volunteers and all others associated with or representing UCAS are required to adhere to policies and procedures relating to both child and adult safeguarding practice. UCAS has a zero-tolerance approach for any form of potentially harmful behaviour and ensures that effective safeguarding mechanisms are in place.

The UCAS Board of Trustees is ultimately accountable for ensuring as far as possible that children and vulnerable adults coming into contact with UCAS do not come to any harm.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), Tessa Yates, General Counsel and Company Secretary (and, in her absence, the Deputy DSL, Kevin Allison, Chief Financial Officer) has ultimate responsibility for all day-to-day child protection matters in UCAS. All staff however understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. The DSL works closely with the Chief Executive and the Board of Trustees to address any concerns arising for UCAS.

Together, the DSL and DDSL have the necessary status and authority to take responsibility for safeguarding matters including committing resources and, where appropriate, supporting and directing other staff.

These are the key principles underpinning our approach to safeguarding, including when dealing with disclosures include:

• We will demonstrate a professional approach in all our interactions with children and vulnerable adults, and we will not display any behaviour that could in any way be construed as inappropriate.
• We will always show them fairness, respect and empathy.
• Our use of the data of children and vulnerable adults will be strictly limited to reasonable work purposes only and will always be handled in accordance with data protection laws applicable at the time.
• We will ensure that contractual arrangements with third parties working on behalf of UCAS, where they interact with children or vulnerable adults, include appropriate clauses to require the same high standards.
• We will always act promptly on any safeguarding concerns that come to our attention, by reporting them to the Designated Safeguarding Lead; and
• All safeguarding concerns or complaints, including those relating to a third party, will be investigated thoroughly and fairly, and anyone raising a concern or complaint and/or the subject of any safeguarding concern will be supported throughout the process.

Our Safeguarding Code of Conduct highlights the importance of safeguarding to UCAS’ culture and values and it sets out how our staff and third parties acting on our behalf should behave when interacting with applicants under the age of 18. It also outlines the process to be followed for reporting any safeguarding incidents or concerns. A copy of the Code of Conduct can be found here: 

For further information please contact safeguarding@ucas.ac.uk.