Getting access to Portico – the UCL applicant portal

We’ll send you an email to let you know how to set up access to Portico and another with your UCL student number. These emails are usually sent up to 48 hours after you submit your UCAS application.

If you haven’t received your emails after 48 hours (and you’ve checked your spam/junk folder), contact us and we’ll resend them.

To help make sure our emails arrive in your inbox, we recommend you add “@ucl.ac.uk” to your safe senders list.

Before you can log in to Portico, register your email address with Online User Registration.

You will need:

• Your UCL student number (emailed to you)

• The email address you used on your UCAS application

See our FAQs for guidance on how to choose an acceptable password.

After you have registered your email address, you can log in to Portico. Your username is the email address you used during Online User Registration. You can reset your password if you have forgotten it.

If you have any problems accessing Portico, contact Portico support by telephone on +44(0)20 7679 5000 or by email to itservices@ucl.ac.uk. The Helpdesk is open Monday - Friday 8.30am-5.30pm. Unfortunately, the Admissions team cannot help with login problems.

Making changes to your application

We consider the information in your application to be complete and accurate when it is submitted to UCAS. However, if you need to make changes, see the sections below for more information.

• Updating your personal details
• Changes to your qualifications
• Changes to predicted grades
• Submitting additional documents
• Mitigating circumstances
• Changing your programme of study
• Deferral requests

Updating your personal details

Contact UCAS to update your personal details. This includes your:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Address
• Passport details
• Nationality

Any changes through UCAS will automatically update your UCL application within 24 to 48 hours.

You do not need to contact us to let us know you have changed this information.

UCAS – Making changes to your UCAS undergraduate application

Changes to your qualifications

Changes to your declared qualifications, following submission of your UCAS application form may not be considered by UCL.

If you notice you have made a mistake on your UCAS application form, contact us as soon as possible. 

Qualifications added after your UCAS application has been submitted, either as qualification amendment or additional qualification, may not be used to meet conditions of offer.

Changes to predicted grades

We will only consider changes to predicted grades if there has been a genuine administrative error by your school/college when the original reference was completed. Requests must be supported by a statement from your school/college letting us know an error has occurred.

In these circumstances we can only consider changes to predicted grades if we receive them before a decision is made on your application AND before the 31 January 2024 UCAS deadline.

Referees should contact us via our contact form from an official school/college email address (e.g. name@school.org) and include::

• an explanation of the error
• revised predicted grades
• your name
• your UCAS PID number
• the course you have applied to

Mitigating circumstances

Speak to your school or institution about mitigation circumstances.

We appreciate that a candidate's exams may have been affected by extenuating circumstances. But, any special consideration must be applied by the Examination Board.

We do not have a mitigating circumstances form. UCL's policy is that mitigating circumstances are a matter for Exam Boards and should be considered at the time of the exams.

As UCL can only accept the final grades awarded by the awarding body. If you have not done so already, we recommend that either yourself or your school share this information with your examination board(s). This is so that they can make any allowances in advance of your examinations.

We do not make changes to programme entry requirements in response to mitigating circumstances.

Submitting additional documents

Please do not send documents such as additional references, supporting statements or extracurricular certificates to UCL unless you are asked to.

If you do, please note that we will not add these to your application or use them to assess your application.

If we require any additional documents to process your application, we will contact you by email and ask you to upload them using Portico. (Please note files must be less than 5MB in size).

Changing your programme of study

If you want to change your programme of study, please contact us and we will consider this. It may not always be possible to consider you for another programme.

We cannot accept change requests for programmes that are closed to new applications.

Programmes with vacancies can be found on UCAS.

Most programmes do not consider additional personal statements. The personal statement in your UCAS application is therefore usually used in the assessment for the new programme.

Deferral requests

We approve deferral requests wherever possible. Please contact us including the following details:

• your full name
• the programme you applied for
• a brief outline of the reasons for your deferral request

Requests for most programmes are approved if received by the beginning of October.

Any English language tests must be taken within two years of the proposed start date of your programme. If your test is older than this at the deferred start date, you must take a new English language test.

Deferrals for Slade School of Fine Art are not possible and you must reapply through UCAS for the next September entry.

Nominated contacts

If you would like someone else to speak to UCL Admissions about your application on your behalf (such as a parent, guardian or teacher) please contact us with:

• your name
• UCAS PID number
• the programme(s) you applied for
• the name of your nominated contact

The nominated contact listed on your UCAS form does not permit UCL to speak to them about your application.

Looking out for information requests

Make sure your contact details are up to date. If we need anything from you, we will contact you using the email address on your UCAS application.

If you need to update your email address, you must do this through UCAS. Any changes through UCAS will automatically update your UCL application within 24 to 48 hours.

Make sure to check your spam/junk folder, as sometime emails can go into here. To help our emails arrive in your inbox, we recommend you add “@ucl.ac.uk” to your safe senders list.

Use Portico’s ‘Communications’ heading to see a record of emails we have sent you.

If we request any documents from you, upload them to Portico using the ‘Upload Documents’ heading (files must be less than 5MB). Do not email these documents to us.

Some of our programmes have additional selection interviews, tests, or tasks.

Fee status questionnaires

We assess your fee status based on the information in your UCAS application. If you have received an offer, your fee status is in the offer letter.

We might need some more information to determine your fee status. If we do, we’ll email you a Fee Status Questionnaire. Upload the completed form (and any supporting documents) to Portico.

For more general information about fee status in the UK and the terminology used, see the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) website.

If you think that your fee status has been incorrectly assessed, you can request a review of the assessment. Requests must be in writing through the contact form. You must support request with evidence of how you meet the criteria for an alternative fee status.

See our student fee status page for more information.

Under 18 guardians

If you are under the age of 18 at the point of enrolment, you must appoint a UCL guardian who lives within the UCL approved commutable area.

Your guardian can be a family member, or a close friend of the family who has agreed to take on this role. Undergraduate students can't act as UCL guardians unless they are a sibling of the applicant.

You can use a UK-based guardianship agency accredited by the Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students (AEGIS) if you don't have anyone to act as your UCL guardian.

If you receive an offer, your offer conditions will include the need for a UCL approved guardian. We will send you a form for completion and return.

While you’re waiting for a decision

You may want to have a look at the following pages to help you prepare for your arrival at UCL.

• Accommodation
• Fees and funding
• Support and wellbeing
• Take a virtual tour

When we’ve made a decision

When we’ve made a decision, we’ll email you to say there’s an update on your application. You can then view the decision in Portico or in UCAS Track/Hub. A final decision has not been made until these have been updated.

If the status of your application is ‘Application received’ or ‘Currently being processed by Admissions’, then your application is still under consideration.

If you receive an offer, see Portico for details of the offer and what you need to do next.

Please also see our guide for Undergraduate Offer Holders. This includes lots of information about your offer, what happens next and any questions you might have.

Undergraduate offer holders

Remember:

• You do not need to reply to your UCL offer until you have heard back from all your UCAS choices.
• You must reply to your choices by the dates below. If you do not, your choices will automatically be declined, and you will be entered into Clearing. We are unable to reissue any offers if you do not respond by the relevant deadline.

If you receive your last decision on or before 16 May 2024, your reply date is 6 June 2024 (except if you're using Extra to find a place).

If you receive your last decision on or before 17 July 2024, your reply date is 24 July 2024 (including Extra choices).

Replying to your offers (UCAS)

Your application will not be reconsidered

Due to the strong competition for places, every year we have to disappoint many good students who meet the minimum entry requirements for a programme.

If you are unsuccessful, we will provide you with feedback on UCAS Track. Due to the high number of applications, we can’t provide further feedback to applicants.

Applications are not reconsidered.

You are welcome to re-apply in the next UCAS cycle, for the following September intake. Your application will not be disadvantaged and will be considered alongside next year’s applicants.

UCL does not typically take part in UCAS Clearing.

Appeals and complaints

Decisions are final and normally there is no right of appeal.

We can only consider complaints relating to applications when there is substantive evidence of irregularity in the applications process procedure.

If a formal complaint is made, any complaint concerning an undergraduate application should be addressed to the Faculty Tutor (in the case of the Faculty of Laws or The Bartlett, UCL Faculty of the Built Environment), or to the Director of Access & Admissions in all other instances.

If the complaint is against the Faculty Tutor or the Director of Access & Admissions, it should be addressed to the Registrar.

Read the policy

Further information