16 April 2025

What reference data is imported from UCAS?

The table Reference imported from UCAS details how reference data imported from UCAS maps to reference data for Applications.

Reference data imported from UCAS
UCAS reference data	Applications reference data	Description
`ActivitySponsorType`	Preparation activity sponsor	Sponsor organisation of the preparation activity, such as UniTracks.
`AwardingBody`	Validating body	Awarding and accreditation institutions for qualifications, such as Scottish Qualifications Authority.
`CareCode`	Been in care	If the person has been in care.
`ContextualData`	School contextual data	School contextual data, such as the percentage entitled to free school meals and average QCA points per qualification per student.
`CountryOfBirth`	Permanent residence area, Country	Residence area, such as Belfast and Torbay.
`DelayedConfirmationReason`	UCAS delayed confirmation reason	Reasons for a delayed confirmation, such as Missing GCSE results.
`Disability`	Disability group	Groups that define disciplines, such as Biological and biotechnical sciences or Education and human society.
`EstablishGroup`	Establishment group	Types of establishments that define other organisations, such as Agency.
`Ethnicity`	Ethnic origin	Types of ethnic origin, such as Asian or Asian British - Indian.
`FeePayer`	Applicant fee payer	Details a source of funding for UCAS applicants.
`GenderIdentityDifference`	Gender identity	If, according to the person's own self-assessment, the gender identity is the same as the gender originally assigned at birth.
`InstitutionUcas`	Institution, Contact detail	Names of institutions, such as the institution teaching a programme or the institution that is the awarding or accreditation body for a qualification.
`LocalEducationAuthority`	Local education authority	Local education authorities in which UK institutions are situated, such as East Riding of Yorkshire.
`Nationality`	Nationality	Note that the `hesaCode` of `Nationality` is imported into the reference data Nationality field Admissions agency identifier.
`OfferSubject`	Qualification subject	Subjects that individual qualifications and collections of qualifications are achieved in, such as Biology.
`ParentalHigherEducation`	Parent in higher education	Defines whether parents of the applicant have attended university or college.
`ParentalOccupation`	Occupational background	The occupational background of applicants or applicants' parents, such as Senior officials in national government.
`ParentalOccupation2010`	Standard occupational class (2010)	Classifications of occupation of applicants or applicants' parents, such as Sales supervisor.
`ParentalOccupation2020`	Standard occupational class (2020)	Classifications of occupation of applicants or applicants' parents, such as Sales supervisor.
`PermanentResidenceArea`	Permanent residence area	Residence area, such as Belfast and Torbay.
`ReligionBelief`	Religion	Religions that classify a person's religion or the religious background a person was brought up in, such as Christian.
`ResidentialCategory`	Residential category	Categories of residence for reporting purposes, such as UK citizen - Wales.
`School`	Address, School	Names of schools used in applications to define where qualifications were obtained, or to define a school as a sponsor organisation.
`SchoolContact`	School contact	School contact detailing the name of the school, contact type, and the name and contact details of the post holder.
`SchoolType`	School type	Types of schools where qualifications are obtained, such as Academy.
`SchoolYear`	Preparation activity school year	School year when the applicant took part in the preparation activity, such as Year 11.
`SexualOrientation`	Sexual orientation	Sexual orientation, such as Gay.
`SocialEconomicClassification`	Socio-economic class	Socio-economic classifications of applicants or applicant's parents, such as Higher managerial and professional occupations.
`StandardOfferAbbreviation`	UCAS withdrawal reason	UCAS withdrawal reason with codes W1 to W8, such as W7 - The course is full. Used with reference data Reason for Transfer.

The image UCAS import shows how UCAS reference data CountryOfBirth, LocalEducationAuthority, and PermanentResidenceArea are mapped to yjr Applications reference data as follows:

UCAS reference data PermanentResidenceAreais a list of countries and local education authorities and includes the HESA code for countries, which matches the ISO2 country codes. PermanentResidenceArea maps to Applications reference data Permanent residence area and links in the country using the HESA code as the country code.

UCAS reference data LocalEducationAuthority codes generally directly map to UCAS reference data PermanentResidenceArea codes so it maps to the Applications reference data Local education authority, but excludes records with a code between 600 and 899 as these the codes do not match. Then, uses the UCAS reference data PermanentResidenceArea to get the relevant country data.

UCAS reference data CountryOfBirth maps to the Application reference data Country, but also links to the Permanent residence area to include the ISO2 country code. This also creates records for the UK, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey if they do not exist as UCAS does not provide these.

UCAS reference data mapping — UCAS import