Glossary

Awarding Body Linkage – awarding organisations have an agreement to let UCAS have exam results before their publication date.

For providers who have signed and agreed to the results embargo agreement, this allows them to make Confirmation decisions for applicants with pending exam results, in time for publication day.

The applicant’s usual home:

• The county or district for UK applicants
• The country for non-UK applicants

Where the provider or conservatoire offers the applicant a course different to the one they originally applied for

When a provider uses a confirmation withdrawal on a UF applicant or an applicant completely withdraws from the scheme.

Delayed Confirmation decision. To be used when a Confirmation decision will not be possible until after the Confirmation RBD in mid-September, but will be by the final RBD towards the end of November.

General Certificate of Education Advanced level

• GCE AS – General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary level
• GCE A level Double Award – General Certificate of Education Advanced level Double Award
• GCE AS Double Award – General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary Double Award

General Certificate of Secondary Education

Higher Education Classification of Subjects – a subject coding system which has replaced JACS (Joint Academic Coding System)

International Baccalaureate Organisation

International English Language Testing System

Irish Leaving Certificate

Joint Academic Network

A managed secure file transfer service

National Vocational Qualification

Outstanding Decisions List – a list of applicants who a provider or conservatoire hasn't made decisions on yet

Other educational qualifications

The year of the course that the applicant wants to be begin at – referred to in the Collection Tool as their ‘entry point’

Reject by default – UCAS rejects outstanding decisions, not yet made by the provider, by the relevant deadline

Reject decision on application

The period when providers are supplied with exam results prior to their publication for applicants

A unique five-digit number allocated by UCAS to schools, colleges and careers offices – Apply centre registered as the ‘last educational establishment’

The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework

The collective name for Web-Link and XML-Link – which are the methods of transmitting applicant information to and from UCAS

A Unique Learner Number (ULN) is a 10-digit reference number, used to access the Personal Learning Record of anyone over the age of 14 in UK education or training

Withdrawal decision on application

Our interactive web-based application management support tool that's available to send and receive individual applicant data between providers and UCAS. It's also used by smaller providers to manage decision processing.

The technology service available to bulk send and receive data between provider and UCAS

While this isn't an exhaustive list of admissions tests, here are some of the well-known ones:

• BMAT – Biomedical Admissions Test
• CAT – Classics Admissions Test
• ELAT – English Literature Admissions Test
• ESAT – Engineering and Science Admissions Test
• GAMSAT – Graduate Medical School Admissions Test
• HPAT – Health Professions Admissions Test
• LNAT – Law National Aptitude Test
• MAT – Mathematics Admissions Test
• MLAT – Modern Languages Admissions Test
• MML – Modern and Medieval Languages Admissions Assessment
• OLAT – Oriental Language Aptitude Test
• PAT – Physics Aptitude Test
• STEP – Sixth Term Examination Paper
• TARA – Test essential skills for undergraduate students across a range of disciplines
• TMUA – Test of Mathematics for University Admission
• TSA – Thinking Skills Assessment
• UCAT – University Clinical Aptitude Test

A change of decision, affecting the course, point of entry, year of entry, campus or conditions of entry – made after an initial decision has been processed

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning

A four-digit alphanumeric application code for UCAS Undergraduate courses, chosen by the user, subject to the following validation rules:

• It can't have already been used in the collection tool by the provider and can't contain the letter E
• The code can't be changed once the course has been saved for the first time

A course that isn't currently offered – which must also be closed to applications and not published in UCAS Collect (Collection Tool for 2026 entry).

Conditional offer made to applicant

Conditional offer, declined by applicant

Conditional offer, accepted by applicant as firm choice

Acceptance in Confirmation for an alternative course, campus, date of entry or point of entry

• Used usually when an applicant hasn't met the conditions of their original offer, but can also be at the request of an applicant
• The applicant can either accept or decline the offer

Conditional offer, accepted by applicant as insurance choice

The process for applicants without an offer of a place – including those who apply after 30 June – to look for a place on a course with vacancies at any university or college

Offer made by a provider that depends on meeting specified conditions – which may include academic and/or non-academic conditions

Providers make a Confirmation decision on CF and CI applications when all exam results and non-academic conditions are no longer outstanding – to either accept or reject the application

Withdrawal by provider when applicant is UF, completely withdrawing them from the scheme (CWD).

Providers must consider all applications for each course on an equal basis if they're received on or before the relevant deadline

Gives applicants who've used all five choices, but are holding no offers, the opportunity of making further application(s), and receiving an offer, before Clearing opens

Full decision made against an application if the course has been flagged as full by the provider

Invitation made to an applicant to attend an interview, audition, or provide a portfolio, essay or other piece of work

Principle where providers see only applications to themselves until after the applicant replies

A joint admissions entity is created between or by existing providers to enable recruitment to courses offered by the entity and validated by the existing providers. Each entity has a separate entry in the UCAS search tool.

A course with attendance at two different UCAS providers who have a formal agreement to share applicants’ choice information for enrolment purposes

Applications for courses received by us after 18:00 on the equal consideration deadline and before 18:00 on 30 June inclusive

Applications for courses received by us up to and including 18:00 on the equal consideration deadline

A provider is an admissions entity represented in the UCAS search tool

Referred

Releasing a UF applicant into Clearing

Applicants have 14 calendar days to change their mind once about their replies to their offers. Reply swaps can be made after 14 days with agreement from all choices involved.

Record of Prior Acceptance

Providers can select Search subjects from a hierarchical list of terms, to help them classify the content of a course accurately

Secure File Transfer Protocol

Adding a ‘Stop’ to an application will prevent a Confirmation reject by default on the first confirmation RBD – this is only available during Confirmation.

Unconditional offer made to applicant

Confirmation decision with a change to either the course, year or point of entry

Unconditional offer, declined by applicant

Unconditional offer firmly accepted – applicant is placed

Unconditional offer, held firmly by applicant, but not with you – an applicant shown as UFE with you is placed elsewhere as a UF

Unconditional offer, held by applicant as insurance choice

Offer made by provider when the applicant has met specified conditions, or has already met entry requirements when they applied

Guaranteed conditional offer made to an applicant dependent on achieving specified grades in upcoming examinations, or meeting financial requirements

• GC1 – guaranteed conditional offer accepted by applicant as first choice
• GC2 – guaranteed conditional offer accepted by applicant as second choice
• GCD – guaranteed conditional offer declined by applicant

Guaranteed unconditional offer made to applicant when the applicant has already met all entry requirements

• GU1 – guaranteed unconditional offer accepted by applicant as first choice
• GU2 – guaranteed unconditional offer accepted by applicant as second choice
• GUD – guaranteed unconditional offer declined by applicant

Reserve conditional offer made to applicant dependent on achieving specified grades in upcoming examinations

• VC1 – reserve conditional offer accepted by applicant as first choice
• VC2 – reserve conditional offer accepted by applicant as second choice
• VCD – reserve conditional offer declined by applicant

Reserve unconditional offer made to applicant when the conservatoire is satisfied the applicant has met all entry requirements

VU1 – reserve unconditional offer accepted by applicant as first choice

VU2 – reserve unconditional offer accepted by applicant as second choice

VUD – reserve unconditional offer declined by applicant

Check documentation – excel spreadsheet containing a summary of provider's course data

• Checkdoc 1 includes a summary of the provider’s input data
• Checkdoc 2 includes a summary of the course data alongside NSS, Graduate Outcomes, LEO and student data

Key technical documents on a webpage for each HESA collection, containing the data collection schedule, data specifications and submission formats

Alongside ProgID – the critical paired course data fields required for the Unistats submission

Displays the provider’s courses for the last three years of student data that are eligible for inclusion in the Unistats return

Providers use this to send their data to HESA

Governs access to HESA systems, including the Data Collection System, via assignment of the appropriate role – e.g. the KIS Submitter role allows access to submit data via the Data Collection System

Alongside CourseID – the critical paired course data fields required for the Unistats submission