The End of Cycle Report provides independent in-depth analysis and insight about who’s applying and being accepted into full-time undergraduate higher education. As in previous years, UCAS is publishing the End of Cycle Report in several chapters, throughout November, December, and January. Detailed insight on a specific topic is published on each date, accompanied by several chapters of additional reporting.
The End of Cycle Report is accompanied by the release of accompanying data resources, presented in an interactive dashboard, allowing users to visualise and tailor the reporting to their own specifications. These data sets are also available in files which are free to access and reuse.
Definitions of terms used throughout the End of Cycle Report can be found in the glossary, within the table of contents for standard reporting.
The first release on 28 November 2019, comprised the Realising Ambition insight report, plus four chapters of standard reporting, covering a summary of applicants and acceptances, nursing applicants and acceptances, Clearing, and offer-making.
In the second release on 17 December 2019, insight into unconditional offer-making, plus standard reporting on widening participation and access, geography, and qualifications was published.
The third release on 30 January 2020 covered standard reporting on equality in England, and unconditional offer-making by groups of providers. End of cycle provider-level data was also published on the same day. Provider level equality reports by area, background, sex and ethnic group for 132 larger universities were also published. International insights was published on 20 February.
Table of contents — insight reports
| Section | Summary of contents | Data resources |
|---|---|---|
 Realising Ambition (1.29 MB) |
Key conclusions for those advising applicants, in the 2020 cycle and beyond. |
Realising Ambition data |
|
|
Trends in unconditional offers and their effect on applicant behaviour. |
 Unconditional Offers — The Applicant Experience data (2.79 KB) |
| International Insights (2.49 MB) |
Understanding international applicants to UK higher education, with a focus on key markets. | International Insights – data (14.22 KB) |
Table of contents — standard reporting
| Section | Summary of contents | Data resources |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 1: Summary of applicants and acceptances (1.41 MB) |
A headline analysis of patterns of entry to UK undergraduate courses. | Summary of applicants and acceptances data (1.87 KB) |
| Chapter 2: Summary of nursing applicants and acceptances (2.88 MB) |
A focus on applicants to nursing courses. | Summary of nursing applicants and acceptances data (4 KB) |
| Chapter 3: Clearing (2.59 MB) |
Specific analysis of Clearing, and the new self-release capability. | Clearing data (1.73 KB) |
| Chapter 4: Offer-making (1.82 MB) |
An analysis of main scheme offer-making. | Offer-making data (4.66 KB) |
| Chapter 5: Unconditional offer-making (2.17 MB) |
An analysis of unconditonal offer-making to 18 year olds from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. | Unconditional offer-making data (3.24 KB) |
| Chapter 6: Widening participation and access (4.06 MB) |
A focus on applicant characteristics including POLAR4, SIMD, gender, disability and mental health. | Widening participation and access data (4.3 KB) |
| Chapter 7: Geography (2.41 MB) |
An analysis of applicants and acceptances by geography. |
Geography data (2.56 KB) |
| Chapter 8: Qualifications (2.97 MB) |
An analysis of qualifications held by applicants. |
Qualifications data (4.5 KB) |
| Chapter 9: Unconditional offer-making by provider group (1.62 MB) |
An analysis of unconditional offer-making to 18 year olds from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales, by providers. | Unconditional offer-making by provider group data (2.37 KB) |
| Chapter 10: Equality in England (3.74 MB) |
An analysis of applicant characteristics including MEM, FSM, and ethnic group. | Equality in England data (5.01 KB) |
| Glossary (1.94 MB) |
Glossary to accompany the 2019 End of Cycle Report. |
Throughout the reports, numbers are rounded to the nearest five, and percentages are generally rounded to one decimal place unless otherwise indicated.