Overview
- Ucas confirmed the £28.95 application fee will be scrapped for care‑experienced people applying to start university or college in autumn 2027 across the UK.
- Eligibility follows legal definitions, applying up to age 25 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and up to age 26 in Scotland.
- Chief executive Dr Jo Saxton said the move is intended to remove a barrier for the group least likely to enter higher education, with 13% of care leavers in higher education by age 19 versus 46% of other pupils in 2023/24.
- The policy builds on Ucas’s 2024 waiver for students receiving free school meals, which the service says benefited about 40,000 applicants in its first year.
- Ucas is urging applicants to disclose care experience so they can be signposted to university support, and charities including NNECL and Become welcomed the decision.