When applying for university, there are so many things to think about! You have to fill in all of your personal details, you have to write a personal statement, you even have to get references from your teachers! However, a common question asked by students is whether they have to pay for the service they are using to create their application. Sure, students have to do a lot to form an application, however UCAS makes this so much easier!
Yes, you do have to pay for a UCAS application. This may be seen as an inconvenience. However, UCAS is such a useful tool and if you didn’t use it, then creating your application would be much more challenging. As a result, you have to pay a fee in order to formulate a UCAS application.
If you want to discover why this is the case and how large this UCAS fee is, check out the rest of this article!
Table of Contents
How much is a UCAS application?
The price for a UCAS application has increased slightly throughout the years. In 2020, it cost £20 for one choice and £25 for multiple choices.
In 2021, it cost £20 for a single choice and £26 for multiple choices. You can find out more about these prices on this article from UCAS.
However, as of 2023, the application fee £22.50 for one choice and is £27 for multiple choices. This information can be found on the UCAS website, if you click here. Therefore, it isn’t too expensive to form a UCAS application.
If you want to discover how many universities you are entitled to apply to through UCAS, check out this article from Think Student.
Why does a UCAS application cost money?
UCAS is a charity. They don’t receive any direct financial support from the government.
This means that it is useful for them to receive money from students, so they can keep their website of high quality, with lots of resources offered. However, UCAS does try to keep the costs as low as possible for applicants.
They do this by also receiving an income generated from their subsidiary UCAS Media ltd. UCAS also receives capitation fees paid by universities and colleges.
You can find out more about this from the UCAS website, if you click here.
What happens if you can’t afford the UCAS application fee?
Some students worry about applying to university via UCAS, as they may be struggling to pay the application fee. If this sounds like you, the best thing to do is to talk to your school or college.
Most schools and colleges will help to cover your application fee. However, there are some circumstances where your local authority may cover the costs for you.
For example, if you have been in care, you may not have to pay yourself. You could also get support if you are a carer or are an asylum seeker or refugee.
You can find out more about whether you are eligible for this extra help on the UCAS website, if you click here.
Is it worth paying for the UCAS application fee?
Applying through UCAS has so many benefits! Personally, I would recommend using this platform. This is because UCAS offers students so many resources which can help you make the best choices and make the application process as simple as possible.
UCAS lists all of the university courses in the UK, allowing students to easily research and find the best courses for them. It also contains useful resources, such as guides on how to write your personal statement and can help you find out what bursaries you could be eligible for.
Using UCAS means that all of your application is in one place. It is an easy and convenient tool for you to use as a result.
Therefore, UCAS is definitely worth the money! Even though the price has increased throughout the years, the fee is still not that expensive when you see how much you actually get out of it!
If you want to check out how easy it really is to apply to university via UCAS, check out this article from UCAS.
Do you have to pay for anything else apart from UCAS when applying to university?
For certain university courses, you may have to sit additional admission tests, as well as your official A-Level exams. These tests can cost money.
Many of them are not cheap! For example, the UCAT test is needed to be sat by students who want to go into medical school. This test will cost each student from the UK £70.
You can find out more about the UCAT test on this article from the UCAT website. There are many other different types of admission tests too.
Some are free but others cost varying amounts of money. You can discover all of the different types of admission tests from this article from UCAS.
What else do you have to do when applying to UCAS apart from paying a fee?
When you apply for UCAS, you have to do much more than paying a fee! UCAS does save you a lot of time and effort, making the application process much easier.
However, you need to make sure that you do your bit too during the application process. You must complete all of the different sections UCAS requires you to.
For example, you will have to fill out information about your residency status and personal circumstance. You will also need to fill out all of your education history.
Don’t worry though! The UCAS website is extremely easy to navigate, so it will be very hard for you to accidently miss any sections out. Of course, you will also need to write a personal statement.
This needs to be 4000 characters or under and students are encouraged to spend a lot of time on this. If you want some tips on how to write a personal statement, check out this article from Think Student.