UCAS for international students: how to apply for 2027 entry

UCAS is the single online application for undergraduate courses in the UK. International students fill in the same form as British students, pay the same fee and face the same deadlines. What changes is everything around the form: a school that has never written a UCAS reference, grades on a scale universities must convert, an English test, a fee status and, after the offer, a visa.

This guide is written for students in French and Moroccan school systems — in France, in a French lycée abroad, or in a Moroccan lycée — but the rules apply to any applicant outside the UK.

How UCAS works for an international applicant

You create one application on ucas.com and add up to five choices (courses at one or more universities). For medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science, you can use at most four of the five choices for that subject. And you can usually apply to only one course at either Oxford or Cambridge in the same year.

The fee for the 2027 cycle is £34.50, whatever the number of choices you use. The form has thirteen sections, including residence, education, employment, the personal statement and the reference. If your qualification does not appear in the list, UCAS asks you to type “other” and pick the closest option.

Every university sees the same application. You write one personal statement for all five choices, so the five courses must be close enough for one text to defend them. Applying for economics at four universities and law at a fifth rarely works.

The 2027 entry deadlines

The local times are our own conversion. On 15 October the UK is still on summer time (UTC+1), so 18:00 in London is 19:00 in Paris and 18:00 in Morocco; on 13 January the UK is on UTC+0, so it is 19:00 in both Paris and Casablanca. If you submit through your school, UCAS says you send your application to the school by the school’s own internal deadline, which comes before the UCAS one: the teacher writes the reference after you have finished your part. Ask for that date in September.

After 13 January, UCAS still forwards applications, but universities “do not have to consider” them; they can if they still have places. For competitive courses, treat 13 January as the real deadline.

Admissions tests have their own deadlines, separate from UCAS and usually earlier. For 2027 entry, UCAT booking closed on 16 September 2026 at 15:00 UK time and testing ran from 13 July to 24 September 2026: new bookings are no longer possible. Check the registration and test dates of every test your courses require (TMUA, LNAT, ESAT, UCAT…) before finalising your choices.

What it costs: application, tuition, visa

Application. £34.50 for the 2027 cycle, paid once.

Tuition. Each university sets its international fee, course by course. For 2027 entry, the pages we checked range from £25,700 a year (Exeter, BSc Business and Management) to £34,910 a year (St Andrews, Economics MA). Some universities have not yet set their 2027 fees and still show 2026/27 figures.

Fee status. A French or Moroccan passport does not determine your fee status on its own. International fees usually apply to applicants living outside the UK who do not qualify for a Home-fee category. For courses starting on or after 1 August 2021, EU nationals — French nationals included — usually need, among other conditions, settled or pre-settled status and three years’ residence to qualify for Home fees in England. Residence, immigration status, family circumstances and the UK nation where you study can change the outcome. Each university decides, from your answers in the residence section of UCAS: answer precisely, and ask each university for a fee-status assessment if you are unsure.

Visa (after the offer). The Student visa application from outside the UK costs £558, plus the immigration health surcharge of £776 per year of visa. You must also show living costs for up to nine months, held for at least 28 consecutive days, with the 28-day period ending within 31 days of your application: £1,203 a month outside London, £1,570 a month in London for applications made on or after 30 November 2026, which covers 2027 entry (Statement of changes HC 584); the date of the application counts, and applications made up to 29 November 2026 are assessed at the previous £1,171 and £1,529. For a first year outside London, that is 9 × £1,203 = £10,827; in London, 9 × £1,570 = £14,130 — on top of the first-year tuition still unpaid, as stated on your CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies). What evidence you must submit, and any exemption, depends on your circumstances and nationality; an exemption from submitting evidence does not remove the requirement to have the money.

The personal statement: three questions, 4,000 characters

Since 2026 entry, the personal statement is three answers rather than one free essay:

1. Why do you want to study this course or subject?
2. How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
3. What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

The total limit is 4,000 characters including spaces, with at least 350 characters per answer. UCAS asks international applicants to say why they want to study in the UK and why they can succeed in a course taught in English — for example, if some of their studies were taught or examined in English.

What we see most often with French and Moroccan students: a first answer that sounds like a Parcoursup cover letter (“I have always been passionate about…”), and a second answer that lists grades the university already sees. British admissions tutors want evidence: a book you read in the subject and what you disagree with, a school project, a competition, a spécialité topic you went further with. Write it in English from the start rather than translating a French draft.

The reference and predicted grades from a non-UK school

This is where international applications stall. UCAS references have three sections. For school-linked applications, the first describes the establishment; for independent applicants, it explains the referee’s relationship with you. The other two cover extenuating circumstances and supportive information about you. School-linked references have a 4,000-character total including headings and formatting, which leaves under 3,800 characters of typed text; UCAS sets a 3,800-character maximum for independent references. Either way, the reference must be written in English, online, by the referee — not by you.

• If your school is registered with UCAS, you link your application with the school’s “buzzword”, and the school writes the reference and adds predicted grades. Ask your school early whether it is registered and who will write your reference.
• If it is not, you apply independently and enter a referee’s email address; UCAS contacts them. The referee must know you academically — never a family member or a friend, or your application may be cancelled.

Predicted grades are the results your school expects you to obtain. UCAS itself notes that many education systems do not predict grades and that referees may need help to produce them. For the French baccalaureate, the prediction is usually an expected overall average out of 20 plus expected marks in your spécialités; for the Moroccan baccalaureate, an expected final mark out of 20. Give your teacher the university’s entry requirement and your recent school reports, and ask in September: a teacher writing a first UCAS reference needs time.

We explain the French-specific side in detail, in French, in predicted grades et reference UCAS.

English language requirements

Two different rules apply.

• The university’s requirement. Each university sets its own level and list of accepted tests. For BSc Economics, for example, Manchester asks for IELTS 6.5 overall with no component below 6.0 (2027 entry), while Warwick’s Band C means 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. It usually appears as a condition of your offer, so you can apply before taking the test.
• The visa requirement. For degree-level study, the Home Office asks for English equivalent to CEFR level B2. If you study at a university, the university can assess your English itself; it may accept a test that is not a Secure English Language Test (SELT), as long as it is equivalent to B2.

Book the test the university accepts, not the one a friend took: the lists differ from one university to another.

After the offer: from conditional offer to visa

Most international applicants receive a conditional offer: a place if you obtain a given result in your baccalaureate and, often, in English. You then choose one firm and one insurance offer (our guide firm, insurance, Extra and Clearing explains this in French).

Once your results meet the conditions, the university issues your CAS, which you need for the visa. You can apply for the Student visa up to six months before your course starts, and a decision usually takes three weeks from outside the UK.

Under 18? If you are 16 or 17 when you apply, you need consent from your parents, and you will need evidence of this when you apply.

Tuberculosis test. For a stay of six months or more, you normally need a TB test if you have lived in a listed country for six months or more and were living in a listed country within the last six months. Morocco is listed; France is not — so a student now in France who lived in Morocco recently can be concerned too. The test is taken at an approved clinic and the certificate is valid for six months from the X-ray. Check the residence conditions and exemptions on GOV.UK.

A calendar for a student in the final year of school

Which diploma, which rules

UCAS is the same for everyone; what universities ask for depends on your diploma.

• French baccalaureate (in France or at a French lycée abroad): UK universities publish a minimum average out of 20 and marks in your spécialités. See French baccalaureate and UK universities.
• Moroccan baccalaureate: many universities do not accept it alone for direct entry and ask for a foundation year. See Moroccan baccalaureate and UK universities.
• IB or A-levels: offers are expressed directly in points or grades, with subject conditions.

If you want someone to check your list, your deadlines and your school’s reference process with you, the first call is free and lasts 30 minutes.