UCAS Central Council on Admissions (UCCA) and Polytechnics Central Admissions System (PCAS) and the name UCAS is a contraction of the former acronyms UCCA and PCAS. An early proposal was made for the new merged body to be called PUCCA, but this was never adopted. UCCA was the older of the two bodies, having been formed in 1961 to provide a clearing house for university applications in the United Kingdom. It was created in response to concerns during the 1950s that the increase in University applications was unmanageable using the systems then in place, where each student applied individually to as
UCAS before paying the fee and submitting the form themselves. For most current applications, the cost per student is £18 to apply for a single course, or £24 for two or more courses. Depending on the subject and on the university that they are applying for, candidates must submit their application by the relevant submission deadline to ensure their application is given equal consideration by the higher education providers they are applying to. It is possible for students to submit applications up until 30 June each year; but a late submission may not be given the same consideration as those submitted