Editing UCAS (section)

==History==
UCAS was formed in 1992 by the merger of [[Universities Central Council on Admissions]] (UCCA) and [[Polytechnics Central Admissions System]] (PCAS) and the name UCAS is a contraction of the former acronyms UCCA and PCAS. An early proposal was made for the new merged body to be called PUCCA (Polytechnics and Universities Central Council on Admissions) but this was never adopted.<ref name="John Fairhall 1984, p.2">{{cite news |first=John |last=Fairhall |title=Admissions streamlining plan for polytechnics |newspaper=The Guardian |date=12 January 1984 |page=2}}</ref>

UCCA was the older of the two bodies, having been formed in 1961 to provide a clearing house for university applications in the United Kingdom. It was created in response to concerns during the 1950s that the increase in University applications was unmanageable using the systems then in place, where each student applied individually to as many institutions as they chose. This concern led to the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals ([[CVCP]]) setting up an ad hoc committee in 1957 to review the matter; this committee in its Third Report of January 1961, recommended the setting up of a central agency, which subsequently became known as UCCA. Its First and Second Reports had already made several recommendations aimed at harmonising admissions procedures across different universities.<ref>Peter Gordon and Denis Lawton, ''Dictionary of British Education'' (London: Routledge, 2003) p.254</ref>

The name UCCA referred originally to the management board (the Central Council) overseeing the new process but soon came to refer to the organisation responsible for its day-to-day operation. This was based initially in London and moved to [[Cheltenham]], Gloucestershire in 1968. The new scheme had a pilot year handling a subset of applications for entry in 1963 and its first full year of operation handled admissions for 1964.<ref>{{cite book |first=W. |last=Stewart |title=Higher Education in Post-war Great Britain |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |date=1989 |page=88}}</ref>

The scheme was essentially a collaborative venture between independent universities and membership was voluntary. Most English universities joined from the start. Oxford and Cambridge joined (with slightly modified procedures) for the 1966 entry; the London medical and dental schools, as well as Belfast and Stirling for the 1967. In 1965, UCCA handled 80,033 applicants, rising to 114,289 in 1969. The acceptance rate of UCCA applicants by universities in 1969 stood at just over 50%.<ref>R.C. Slater, 'University Admissions' in ''The Proceedings of IEEE,'' vol. 8 no. 3, 1970, p.33</ref>

Initially, the processing of applications was carried out using [[punched card]] technology. In 1964, UCCA started using the services of a [[computer bureau]] with a [[Univac]] machine; in 1967 it installed its own [[Univac]] computer.

Although the polytechnics were degree-teaching institutions, through the [[CNAA]] awards system, they were not eligible for admission to UCCA as it was reserved only for universities with degree-awarding powers. Despite this, the [[Polytechnic (United Kingdom)|Polytechnics]] were involved as early as 1972 in discussions with [[Universities Central Council on Admissions|UCCA]] and the [[Central Register and Clearing House]] about the possible future shape of one or more admissions systems.<ref name=RKU>Kay, Ronald "UCCA: Its Origins and Development 1950=85", UCCA, 1985, pp.83–89</ref> At this stage applicants dealt directly with each individual polytechnic and the polytechnics themselves were strongly regional or local in their appeal. A study in 1977 found that between sixty and seventy per cent of those admitted to a polytechnic had applied to that institution only and that forty percent of admissions to polytechnics resulted from applications made in August or September of the year of entry.<ref name=RKU/>

In 1983 the Committee of Directors of Polytechnics began negotiations with UCCA to share its computing, technical and office facilities in [[Cheltenham]] to establish a course entrance system, based on the existing model used by UCCA.<ref>Audrey Segal, 'A rationalised confusion' in ''The Guardian'' (UK Newspaper) 31 January 1984, p.11</ref> A grant of £210,000, from the British [[Department for Education and Science]], was awarded to set up a new unified admissions system, provisionally called PUCCA.<ref name=" John Fairhall 1984, p.2"/> However, instead of a unified system for both the universities and polytechnics, a separate system for polytechnics emerged from the negotiations, modelled on UCCA but known as PCAS. Applicants to courses were given the option to apply separately for universities or polytechnics, or both.

The PCAS system came into effect in 1985.<ref name="Polytechnic Central Admissions System 1985, p.11">' Introducing the new Polytechnic Central Admissions System' in ''The Guardian'' (UK Newspaper) 11 June 1985, p.11</ref> It was led by its first Chief Executive, Tony Higgins<ref name="ReferenceA">' Sector pays tribute to Higgins, champion of access' in The Times Higher Education Supplement (UK newspaper) 23 April 2004</ref> and in the first year it handled around 140,000 applications to polytechnic courses, of whom 40,000 a year went on to study at polytechnics.<ref>Edward Fennell, 'Horizons: Don't blot your copy book – The odds are moving back in favor of the applicant for higher education' in ''The Times'' (UK Newspaper) 21 September 1987</ref>

Although many polytechnics offered art and design programmes and some also offered teacher training courses, these admissions systems remained outside PCAS.<ref name="Polytechnic Central Admissions System 1985, p.11"/> Art and Design admissions worked to a later timetable as a result of the role Art Foundation courses had in developing a student's proposed specialism (painting, sculpture, graphic design, and so on).  Work was furthermore generally submitted before a decision was made on whether to interview. However, means of absorbing the [[Art and Design Admissions Registry]] into UCAS were found by 1996.<ref>Editorial, Times Higher Education Supplement, 9 August 1996</ref>

Although the aim to create a fully unified application system for universities and polytechnics was not achieved until 1994,  from the '80s onwards Tony Higgins, the Chief Executive of PCAS, continued to push for the merger of PCAS with UCCA.<ref name=" ReferenceA"/> In 1992, following the change of status and name of most polytechnics to universities,<ref>Donald MacLeod, 'Poly genesis: Have the new universities lost their ray since they emerged from the old olytechnics ?', in ''The Guardian'' (UK Newspaper) 3 September 2002, Section B, p.12</ref> the two bodies combined under Higgins's leadership.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Initially the application form was branded jointly UCCA/PCAS<ref>'The new joint UCCA/PCAS application form' in ''The Guardian'' (UK Newspaper) 10 September 1991, Section B, p.11</ref> but in 1994 the new merged body was officially renamed UCAS.<ref>Jonathan Croall, 'Nightmare Scenario' in ''The Guardian'' (UK Newspaper) 19 August 1993, Section B, p.9</ref>

In 2015, the Amsterdam Fashion Academy became the first non-UK educational establishment admitted to UCAS.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-life/11524932/Choosing-a-university-abroad.html|title=Choosing a university abroad|first=Jessica|last=Moore|date=10 April 2015|access-date=22 September 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/03/british-university-students-who-study-abroad-europe|title=Who needs Oxbridge? Meet the British students headed for Europe|first=Rosie|last=Ifould|date=3 October 2015|website=The Guardian|access-date=22 September 2018}}</ref>