Admissions policies

Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA) was an independent and objective voice on UK higher education admissions, to promote professionalism, fair admissions, and access to higher education.

If you are an applicant looking to complain or appeal, please speak to the university or college you are applying to directly.

It produced independent and objective evidence-based good practice resources to support the recruitment and selection of students. Here, you will find SPA resources relating to admissions policies.

In 2017, UCAS took the difficult decision to withdrawn funding from SPA, however, UCAS intends to continue to update and produce new good practice where there is sufficient demand from the admissions community. Therefore, these resources may be updated over time. If you have any feedback, please contact Carolyn Mindos, Principal Admissions Reform Lead at c.mindos@ucas.com.

Good practice admissions guide (869.04 KB)
Applicant complaints policy checklist (40.58 KB)
Applicant complaints and appeals good practice statement (668.58 KB)
Example template - Applicant complaints and appeals form (35.26 KB)
Admissions To Higher Education Review (Schwartz Review) (262.07 KB)
Schwartz Review - Executive summary and conclusions (271.9 KB)
Schwartz Review - Research findings (1.33 MB)
Schwartz Review - Themes and good practice case studies (448.69 KB)