AbstractWe present results from IUE and optical spectra, optical photometry and circular polarimetry during high and low states of the highly luminous soft X-ray cataclysmic variable AR UMa that identifies the primary in this system as a white dwarf with a magnetic field of 230 MG. The high magnetic field likely threads accretion blobs all the way from the secondary to below the surface of the white dwarf, resulting in a lack of polarised cyclotron emission and an extreme soft-X-ray luminosity during the high state.