The UK has a centralized university admissions service which handles all undergraduate applications – the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). This is used by both domestic and international students to apply for courses at universities in the UK. You’ll need to register on the UCAS website before completing and submitting your application. The website has all the details on how to apply, what to include, how to track your application and how to respond to your chosen universities. It also has a guide for international students, including information about visas, student finance and more.
Once you’ve submitted the application, UCAS will send it to the institutions you’ve chosen, and then email or mail you back their response. If you’re accepted by an institution, you’ll get an ‘offer’. This can take the form of a ‘conditional offer’ which means the place is yours if you can fulfill set admissions criteria, or an ‘unconditional offer’ which means you’ve already reached their criteria. If you’re unlucky, you’ll receive either a ‘withdrawn application’ response, which means either you or the university has withdrawn your course choice, or an ‘unsuccessful application’ response, which means the university has decided not to offer you a place.
For schools, English language centers, most further education courses and some postgraduate courses, there is no centralized application system so you’ll need to apply directly to the institution that provides the course. You can usually find application forms on the website.
