UCAS - Education

Education

Advice about completing the education section

Universities need to know where you've studied and which qualifications you're taking/have taken. You fill in details of your schools or colleges, then list your qualifications, one by one. You must include all schools, colleges and universities that you have attended since the age of 11, even if you withdrew from your course. There is space to enter up to 10 centres.

For each school and college, you provide details of:

all qualifications for which you have accepted certification from an awarding organisation, even if you're retaking all or part of the qualification

all qualifications for which you are currently studying or awaiting results.

All qualifications must be entered, even if you received an unsuccessful grade, if you are still waiting to take the final exams or if you are waiting for the results.

If you've taken any qualifications with the AQA exam board and don't have your certificate, AQA can supply you with a Statement of Results, which will be accepted in the same way as a certificate. Further details are available in the Past Results Service PDF on the AQA website (this will open in a new window).

OCR can also provide you with a Certifying Statement of Results, an official document that acts as a certificate equivalent. Please visit the OCR website for more information and to download the relevant application form (this will open in a new window).

How to enter qualifications

Add details of all of the schools, colleges and universities that you've attended, then click on the 'add qualification' link below each one and enter the qualifications you've taken, or are currently taking, at that centre.

If you're applying through a school or college, you might see a short list of qualifications that are relevant to you. Otherwise, you'll see that the qualifications are listed alphabetically on the A-Z list.

If you can't find your qualification name in the list, try looking under the country where you completed the qualification (for example, France - French Baccalaureate). If you still can't find it in the list, click 'O' in the A-Z list and select the relevant 'other' option.

If you're resitting a qualification you need to enter it twice: once as a completed qualification with the grade achieved and once as a qualification with the result 'Pending'.

All qualifications have to be entered manually - you can't copy and paste in transcripts.

Don't send any examination certificates or other papers to us, or to your universities or colleges, unless asked.

Units/modules

You must enter units/modules for some qualifications, but for others it's optional - in Apply, check if there's an asterisk next to (it will be displayed as 'module/unit *'): if there is, you need to add these details. If they're optional, check the Entry Profiles in Course Search to see if universities want your units or module results and add them if they do.

Your highest level of qualification

You'll be asked to select the highest level of qualification you will have before you start your course. This doesn't include the course you're applying to - it's just about the qualifications that you'll complete before starting the course. There are three options available in a drop-down list:

Honours degree level or above, eg bachelor's degree with honours, master's degree, PhD.
Below honours degree level, eg AS and A level, Scottish Higher and Advanced Higher, GCSE, Irish Leaving Certificate, International Baccalaureate.
No formal qualifications: this means that you will not have received any formal and certificated qualifications before you start a higher education course.

Mature students

Enter details for all your qualifications. If you don't have any qualifications, you should still enter details for your schools. You'll be asked whether you obtained any qualifications at each school or college and can then select 'no'. If this is correct, ignore the warning message and click on 'section completed' and 'save' to complete the education section.

If you're hoping to enter higher education through the Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) or the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL), you still apply through us, but should contact your universities and colleges first to discuss whether APL or APEL is acceptable and what evidence they'll need.

International students

Check the suitability of your qualifications with the admissions offices at your universities and colleges before applying. They will decide whether or not your qualifications meet or could meet their entry requirements for the course(s). When you apply, you give full details of all your qualifications, including exams you took when you left school, exams you took to get into higher education, vocational exams and any other qualifications or awards. Please do not try to give a UK equivalent.

If your first language is not English, you should:

say whether or not your qualifications were completely or partly assessed in English
enter details for any English language tests you have taken or plan to take.

Find out more...

Guidance on entering specific qualifications

Exam boards and awarding organisations