The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service provides digital identification services to organisations that provide access to a set of data resources. These resources allow users to see if there is a record with matching personal identifiers within the current UCAS undergraduate admissions cycle and if so, what the current status of that record is. Users of the service are permitted to take operational decisions informed in full or in part from the fact that a record with the same identifiers has the reported status subject to the following terms and conditions and confirmed receipt of your order for the Service (our ‘Agreement’) which shall continue to apply for so long as you continue to make use of the Service:
1. Definitions
1.1. In these Terms and Conditions, the terms below have the following meanings:
1.1.1. ‘Applicant’ means any individual applying during the current Service Period for a place at a UK university or college to commence at the start of the next academic year, who has applied using the UCAS Undergraduate scheme provided by UCAS.
1.1.2. ‘Customer’, ‘user’, 'You', 'you' and 'your' means the natural or legal person, or body of persons corporate or incorporate, or government agency, acquiring rights in the Supplied Information under this licence receiving the Service.
1.1.3. ‘Embargo Period’ means the period notified in advance to the Customer each year, which runs from approximately the end of July to the middle of August, during which exam results are subject to an embargo.
1.1.4. ‘Matching Dataset’ means a data file containing Applicant data masked in the form of 64 character, hexadecimal strings which will be used to confirm that a specified set of personal data items exactly matches the same items in any User Data file.
1.1.5.‘P urpose’ means the confirmation of Applicant status for the purpose of qualification of eligibility for some change to or extension of the services or products provided by, or offered by a User. The Matching Datasets produce a ‘reported status’ to indicate that any Applicant record searched has progressed to one of a number of stages in the applications process, which include:
i. applied to;
ii. received an offer from;
iii. firmly accepted an offer from; or
i v. placed with a university, or universities; a college, or colleges to commence during the then current Service Period.
1.1.6. ‘Service’ means the provision of Matching Datasets and Matching Solutions by UCAS for the Purpose as set forth at paragraph 3.
1.1.7. ‘Service Period’ means the period in which the Service is available in any application cycle and is typically February to October in each year.
1.1.8. ‘UCAS’, ‘We’, ‘we’, ‘Our’, ‘our’, ‘Us’ or ‘us’ means the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
1.1.9. 'Use' means Customer’s application of the Service for the Purpose.
1.1.10. ‘User Data’ means your customer data used by you for the Purpose for which you accept all liability.
2. Interpretation
2.1. Use of singular forms of address under these terms and conditions shall have the same meaning in respect of multiple Users.
3. The Service
3.1. UCAS will make the Matching Datasets available to Users which, when using one of the three matching solutions (the ‘Matching Solutions’) generate a reported status to be used for the Purpose:
3.1.1. Status checking against a file of masked personal data containing the details of Applicants who have given consent in advance to the customer for the sharing of personal information;
3.1.2. Status checking against UCAS data which produces a reported status based on Applicants consenting at point of sale / enquiry by providing a four (4) digit short code; or
3.1.3. Status checking against an anonymised dataset to provide a ‘present’ or ‘not present’ result without sharing the personal details of the individual data subject – this is based on a sixteen (16) character code which the applicant may submit and produces a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ result. Embedded checksum digits are also included that enable optional matching to the date of birth of the applicant.
3.2. Applicant’s provide consent at point of sale for the Service delivered under paragraphs 3.1.
3.3. Updated Matching Datasets will be published for download by us from time to time and it shall be your responsibility to ensure that within the ten (10) business days following such publication the Matching Datasets in use by you are the most recently available Matching Datasets reflecting the prevalent records of Applicants; failure on your part to use the most recent versions of the Matching Datasets shall result in suspension of your access to the Service. Updates are suspended between the end of July and confirmation and clearing.
3.4. We warrant and represent to you that in providing you with the Matching Datasets, we have a lawful basis to share their data with you for the purpose and we shall fully indemnify you in the event of any claims brought against you as a result of any claims made against you.
3.5. We warrant and represent that we will not introduce a software virus, computer worm, software bomb or similar damaging code into any hardware or software used by us our used by you directly or indirectly in relation to our provision of the Services, or which is used by you.
3.6. You warrant and represent to us that in applying User Data to the Services, you have obtained all necessary consents from the data subjects.
3.7. We both will (and will procure that any staff involved in the Use of the Service) comply at all times with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the ‘Act’) as applied and including any instruments and secondary legislation which draws its authority from the Act from time to time amended and/or repealed and re-enacted (as if it were UCAS) and will perform its obligations under this Agreement in such a way as to ensure that UCAS does not or is not likely to breach any of its obligations under the Act. In providing the Services set out in the order form which are governed by the terms of this Agreement, UCAS is acting as Data Controller of the underlying data used during the identification process and you are acting as Data Controller for the status validated status of the applicant received through the service.
3.8. This Service does not affect your freedom under fair dealing or fair use or any other copyright or database right exceptions and limitations.
3.9. During the Embargo Period the Matching Datasets will not be updated.
4. The Service Fee
4.1. Matching Datasets will be made available to the User upon receipt of a confirmed order committing the User to payment of the agreed price of supply (the ‘Service Fee’).
4.2. Any breach of your obligation under paragraph 3.6 of these terms shall render the Service Fee immediately due in full without otherwise limiting the remedies available to us for such breach.
4.3. Order placement is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
5. Your rights and obligations in Using the Service
5.1. These include rights to:
5.1.1. store, access, copy, publish at a corporate level, distribute and transmit the Matching Data and masking keys solely for the Purpose;
5.1.2. adapt the Service to integrate with a User’s existing computer and service support systems; and/or
5.1.3. exploit the Service commercially and non-commercially for example, by combining the Result(s) with other data, or by including the Service functionality in your business data systems or application and within your own organisation.
5.2. In addition you may, with our consent, which we will not unreasonably withhold or delay, use UCAS logos, trademarks and wordmarks and copyright Service-related information in materials you create to describe or promote the Service, as you provide it to your customers.
5.3. You may not make use of a positive match to exclude an Applicant from a service or product you are providing.
5.4. You must (where you do any of the above) credit us, as the source of the Matching Dataset and Matching Solutions in your product or application by including or linking to any accreditation we produce and, where possible, provide a link to the Service page on our Website; if we provide no alternative accreditation, then you must use the following:
‘The status of an applicant’s’ application has been provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service Digital Identification Data Service.’
5.5. The requirements are conditions of this Service Agreement and if you fail to comply with them, then the rights granted to you under this Service Agreement, or any licence granted by us, will end automatically.
5.6. UCAS reserves the right to suspend the access of any user to the Service pending further investigation if it reasonably believes that the user is putting the Service to any use which is inconsistent with or not included in the Purpose.
6. Exemptions
6.1. The licence granted under paragraph 5 does not extend to:
6.1.1. any personally identifiable information found to be included in the Matching Data which may be read as such without the Matching Solutions. UCAS must be informed immediately if such an incident occurs;
6.1.2. any attempt to use the Matching Data and Matching Solutions in a way which:
i. is or would be inconsistent with the Purpose (e.g. any attempt to identify individuals who are not customers of the User which would be a breach of Section 171 of the Data Protection Act 2018).
6.1.3. third party rights we are not authorised to license; and
6.1.4. other intellectual property rights, including any trademarks and/or design rights not expressly granted under paragraph 5.
7. Non-endorsement
7.1. The rights available under these Terms do not grant you any right to use the Service in a way that suggests any partnership, joint venture or agency arrangement between you and UCAS or that UCAS endorses you, your products, your services or your use of our Service in any way.
8. Warranties and Indemnities
8.1. You represent, warrant and undertake that in processing User Data you will comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and all applicable laws and regulations relating to the processing of personal data and privacy, as from time to time amended and/or re-enacted, including relevant guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
8.2. The Service is provided 'as is' and UCAS excludes all representations, warranties, obligations and liabilities in relation to the Service to the maximum extent permitted by law.
8.3. We shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in information provided under the Service or for any loss, injury or damage of any kind caused by its use.
8.4. We do not guarantee that the Service will continue, or operate without fault, interruption or error and offer no warranty as to availability.
8.5. You will indemnify and hold us harmless in the event of any claim or accusation that your use of the Service in any way infringes the rights, injures, offends, harms or damages the reputation of any third party, subject to our notifying you if and when we are in receipt of any such claim or are notified of any such accusation.
9. Anti-Bribery
You will comply with all applicable laws, statutes, regulations, and codes relating to anti-bribery and anti-corruption including but not limited to the Bribery Act 2010.
10. Severability
In the event any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the affected provision shall be deemed amended to the extent necessary to render it enforceable; unaffected provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.
11. Waiver
The waiver by either party of any default or breach of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any other or subsequent default or breach.
12. Entire Agreement
This Agreement constitutes the complete agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous and contemporaneous agreements, proposals, or representations, written or oral, concerning the subject matter of this Agreement. No other act, document, usage, or custom shall be deemed to amend or modify this Agreement.
13. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of England and any dispute or claim which arises, shall be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the English Courts.