The UCAS End of Cycle Report 2017 is the first national overview of demand for, and acceptances to, UK higher education (HE) for the 2017 admissions cycle.

The End of Cycle Report provides independent in-depth analysis and insight about who’s applying and getting in to HE, changing patterns of recruitment and the impacts of qualification, market reforms, and widening participation and access activities, drawing on UCAS’ many years of expertise in this area. With the current political, social and economic backdrop, and an increasingly competitive higher education market, understanding admissions patterns has rarely been more important.

The growth of this available data and opportunities for analysis and context has meant that this year, for the first time, UCAS is releasing this material in waves. To aid understanding, the key findings within each release of information will be provided in the executive summary as sections are released.

The report will be accompanied by the release of around 300 data sets (end of cycle data resources), which are free to access and reuse. These data sets comprise cross tabulations of key characteristics of applicants, their applications and outcomes, as well as the data behind all charts in the reports.

The first release, comprised of two sections, summarises the broad patterns in applicant and acceptance numbers, and with targeted breakdown by applicant domicile and age. Further analysis notes, to be published over the coming weeks, will focus on patterns by subject areas, geography, equality, offer-making, qualifications, and competition.

This page will be updated as these sections are released.


Table of contents

Section

Summary of contents

Data resources

Foreword (198.24 KB)

A foreword from our CEO, Clare Marchant, reflecting on the cycle.

 

 

N/A

Executive summary (597.98 KB)

A summary of key findings within each of the sections that comprise the end of cycle report.

  

N/A

Summary of applicants and acceptances (1.49 MB)

An analysis of patterns of entry to higher education.

 

Summary of applicants and acceptances data (8.74 KB)

Patterns by age (1.43 MB)

An analysis of placed applicants and entry rates by UK country of domicile for 18, 19, 20, 21-25, and 26+ age groups.

 

Patterns by age data (11.24 KB)

Patterns by subject (2.16 MB)

An analysis of placed applicants by subject, with particular focus on Nursing courses.

 

 

Patterns by subject data (13.84 KB)

Patterns by geography (2.57 MB) 

An analysis of placed applicants by domicile and entry rates by UK region and parliamentary constituency.

 

 

 

 

Patterns by geography data (48.09 KB)

Patterns by applicant characteristics (1.89 MB)

An analysis of entry rates by equality measures, focussing on the UCAS multiple equality measure, and also including sex, ethnic group, income background and area based measures of disadvantage.

Patterns by applicant characteristics data (18.37 KB)

Offer-making (2.78 MB)

An analysis of offer-making behaviours, including conditional and unconditional offer-making.

Offer-making data (34.24 KB)

Qualifications and competition (1.86 MB)

An analysis of entry by qualification types held and academic performance.

Qualifications and competition data (11.16 KB)