School charging for UCAS applications?!

[MrsPigling]

dd1 is trying to convince me that school have charged her £24 to submit her UCAS application

This is a state upper school and she's a full time student (not sitting A levels as external candidate or anything complicated). Admittedly she repeated year 12, so is sort of in year 14, but even so is students / parents having to pay for UCAS a thing?

The school haven't mentioned this before. I went to the UCAS application info evening and have checked the website and can't see anything.

Has anyone else been charged by school?

State school kids do have to pay for ucas, The only ones who don't are those in genuine hardship and couldn't actually afford to pay £24. This does happen, I know students who come to school hungry because there is no food in the house, so surely you don't begrudge the state supporting those students rather those that are privately educated.

Why do you think the school should have mentioned it before now? Presumably the UCAS application process is ongoing, although some people have already submitted theirs, loads haven't and there will be some who will be pressing the button at a minute to midnight on the last day. When do you think it should have been brought up?

I had no idea about this. I didn't pay for mine (admittedly back in 1995) and I had absolutely no idea the school had paid for me!

Just to add - applicants and their families most definitely aren't covering the full cost of UCAS with the £24 fee!

Universities pay UCAS significant sums, from a fee for each student who applies through UCAS and turns up in September, through to extortionate sums to attend things like UCAS fairs. In addition, UCAS Media (a semi-separate arm) sell everything from data sets to universities through to advertising space to companies targeting 16-21 year olds...

£24 is actually quite a bargain, all things considered...