UCAS Conference 2024 - Access All Areas

Alison Charles brings more than three decades of admissions expertise across FE, HE, and sector‑wide support. She began her career in 1994 in Further Education, moving into Higher Education admissions in 1998 at the University of the West of England, where she supported decision‑making across multiple faculties. Returning North in 2001, she joined UMIST to lead central UCAS process support and later played a key role in unifying admissions operations during the 2004 UMIST–University of Manchester merger. Alison went on to become Admissions Manager at the University of Manchester, overseeing undergraduate and postgraduate processes across a complex devolved structure and contributing sector insight through UCAS advisory groups and conference delivery.

Alison joined UCAS in 2015 as a Regional Relationship Manager, before expanding her remit through Customer Success leadership roles. She is now Regional Provider Lead for the North and Scotland, supporting providers to deliver strong, student‑centred admissions experiences.

Outside work, Alison can often be found foraging in the wild for edible plants and fungi.

She is also an enthusiastic seeker of art and antiques and spends many happy hours in her allotment and polytunnel growing fruit for her homemade jams.