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UCAS Entry Profiles: The approvals process

Please note the current version of Entry Profiles will eventually be removed in favour of a set of more defined topics of course information. As the current Entry Profile data will not be migrated across to Course Collect, UCAS recommends that appropriate links to your own institution's website are used in place of detailed, original text.

The Data Collection Team will make your Entry Profiles live for you on the day of submission. Please check each Entry Profile is reviewed against the following criteria before submission:

Grammar and spelling

British English is used as standard. For example, any words with the ending '-ize' will be reviewed and replaced with an '-ise' ending where appropriate. Double character spacing at the beginning of sentences will be removed. Sentences which are ambiguous or difficult to understand, for example through a lack of commas, will be amended. Text must not contain inappropriate material, unsubstantiated claims (eg, 'this is the best course for anyone wishing to be a nuclear physicist') or legally dubious material.

Broken URLs

Wherever possible, URLs should be entered into the specific URL fields within the Entry Profiles. This means the URL will be automatically live in the published Entry Profile, and will not require any further HTML coding to be added.

However, you may also wish to use a URL embedded in a section of free text. All embedded URLs should be active (with the correct HTML coding added by the provider), current, and link to relevant material. For example, URLs which are embedded within the section that details student finance information should not link to a main institution homepage but should lead directly to a page that contains student finance information.

Out-of-date information

Please ensure Entry Profiles include up-to-date information. For example, if an Entry Profile is attached to a course open for 2013 applications and refers to course fees for 2009, either the current year's fees be included or that section be removed completely from the Profile.

Duplicate information

Entry Profiles must contain course-specific information. There may be a certain amount of information that is generic to all the courses that an institution offers, perhaps across a specific Faculty or Department's provision, but it is expected that the majority of the Entry Profile to be unique in every case. However, information should also not be repeated under multiple headings within an individual Entry Profile.

Additional formatting points

Institutions may use images and graphics in their Entry Profiles. However, we suggest that these are kept to a minimum as potential students may have difficulty viewing these while using school or college computers due to internet security software. The maximum recommended size of any graphic or image is 430 pixels wide. Any graphic or image that distorts the overall page layout should be reduced in size. Institutions wishing to include YouTube-style videos in their Entry Profiles should add only the link URL to the Entry Profile wherever possible and not embed the video in the page.

Formatting such as bullet points, bold text and italics can be used, but must be correctly coded with HTML.

Coloured text is permitted, but must be correctly coded with HTML. We would strongly advise institutions to keep to a small palette of colours, for example, the colours used within the institution's logo or corporate colour scheme. Please keep in mind that the rest of the web page will be branded with the UCAS corporate colours.

Less is often more. Entry Profiles that are very long are unlikely to engage a potential student's interest for more than a few seconds. Try to keep your Entry Profiles concise and to the point, giving bite-size chunks of relevant information. If you have to scroll more than two or three times on your mouse to view the entire Entry Profile, it is likely that you have too much text.

For more information about how to use these guidelines, please contact the Data Collection Team on 01242 544 864 or email coursesdata@ucas.ac.uk.