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    Collection Tool – 2026 cycle

    UCAS' Collection Tool is your portal to manage and promote your courses to your market all in one place. You can also manage applications by setting vacancy statuses and eligibility criteria.

    What's on this page?

    What is the Collection Tool?

    Shine a spotlight on your brand

    Used by millions every year, UCAS Search is the go-to resource for prospective applicants exploring their options. From the straightforward, like campus postcodes and start dates, to the specific, such as application codes and qualification outcomes, your potential students come to us looking for the information they need to make an informed decision.

    UCAS' Collection Tool is your portal to self-manage, update, and promote your courses to the world – all in one place.

     

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    Key benefits

    • Maximise your reach to 700,000 potential applicants every single academic year
    • Promote your courses on UCAS Search, in the UCAS Application, and on trusted partner websites
    • Stay current by customising your details in real-time, to keep up with changing demands and trends
    • Manage your numbers, by pausing and resuming applications depending on demand or location
    • Add specific or timely information directly to Search 
    • Make sure you’re always found, by adding aliases so that potential applicants will see you in Search
    • Cut down on admin and provide contact details for different queries, like courses, admissions, or Clearing
    • Save time by bulk updating multiple course information at once, or exporting as CSV
    • Obtain the critical information needed for your HESA returns from our purpose-built reports

    How the Collection Tool works

    The valuable information your prospective applicants will find in Search is populated by what you provide in the Collection Tool. With complete control over your provider and course details, you guarantee that potential students are making informed decisions based on real-time, up-to-date information.

    Here’s how it works:

    • Visit ucas.com and log into the Collection Tool
    • Access your user management, provider management, or course management portals
    • Customise and update your details using the simple interface, which populates what applicants see in Search

    • Utilise the bulk update, exports, and reporting tools to keep everything in shape 

       

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    Collection Tool help and support

    Check out our Collection Tool help page for more resources, training, and helpful guides:

    Collection Tool help page

    Alternatively, download our Collection Tool support guide for more information on how best to use the tool and what it can do for you:

    Admissions Guide - What's New for 2026

    UCAS Collect

    UCAS Collect launched in January 2026 in readiness for the 2027 cycle. UCAS Collect will replace the Collection Tool and brings several benefits with solutions and innovations around managing your course and provider data.  

    UCAS Collect will provide a more streamlined and flexible approach to managing course data with enhanced visibility, plus it also allows you and your colleagues to easily add and update your course listings and manage relevant provider, contact and campus information. 

    Learn more about UCAS Collect, including the timeline, useful resources, and handy webinars here: 

    UCAS Collect

    Let's talk Collection Tool

    Contact us via email or phone to get in touch with our Data Collection Team. They'll be able to provide access and show you how the Collection Tool works best.

    Email coursesdata@ucas.ac.uk or call us on 01242 544 864.