Multiple applications--agency?

Just thought I'd ask here . . . I've seen students who were applying to study in the UK for their undergraduate degrees talk about some sort of agency (I can't remember the name/letters) through which it sounded like they'd applied for school.  Meaning, they'd applied once to this agency, which then submitted their application to multiple universities. ?

Is this the case, and if so--is there anything like that for graduate students?

I'd love to apply to a number of schools, but many of them have the same deadline and I'm afraid I'll probably run out of time.  I'm also not excited about the idea of asking my referees (college professors) to fill out this form here and that form there and one more and please upload the letter again, etc.  It would be nice if they could just submit the letter to one place and be done with it! 

I think you're thinking of UCAS, but there isn't anything like that for graduate programmes.  I'm not sure it's a good idea even if there were one; for graduate study it's best to tailor your application to the specific programme you're applying for.  My understanding of UCAS is that it submits the same application to every programme. 

I wouldn't worry about asking professors to fill out multiple forms/letters of reference for you.  They're used to that; it's all part and parcel of the job.

No, but there is a search engine for graduate studies (and loads of other useful information):

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/search_courses.htm

And you could check university rankings for your subject area:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/world-ranking

HTH. 

Thanks, friends!  It all helps.  Yes, that's a good point--I definitely would need to change my statement of purpose and even my research proposal a little bit, based on the particular school.

And I'll try not to worry about asking my professors to upload those letters again to a different site or organization.

I guess I just wish it was as easy as going to some database, where you punch in your info.  Here are my degrees, here's my GPA for each program, this is what I'd like to research, and if it looks good to you, drop me a line.