Guide to UCAS Clearing

What is Clearing?

Clearing is a legitimate way of gaining a place on a course. In 2018, over 60, 000 students gained places through Clearing (source: The Independent).

Every year, thousands of places are still available at top universities because of last-minute changes. For example, students may not have gotten the grades they needed, they have done better than expected, they have decided to take a gap year or they have changed their chosen course/university at the last minute.

Universities do not want empty spaces on their courses, so they fill these through a process called Clearing. If you haven’t got the grades, Clearing will likely be the only way to secure a fantastic place on a great course at a top university for this September.

Top Tips for Clearing

• Remain calm
  • If you’ve narrowly missed your offer, there is still a good chance you may be admitted to your firm choice so don’t worry. Universities understand individual circumstances and try to take as holistic and realistic approach as possible when admitting
  • Even if you didn’t do as well as hoped, universities still want to hear from you, so don’t stress and keep a cool head
  • We’re here to help also, so get in touch

• Wake up early
  • If you’re not able to collect your results in-person, make sure to wake up early to contact your school and to check your status in UCAS Track
  • If things don’t go as planned, you will need some time to devise out a plan, research potential courses and
  • This is a busy day and it can often be difficult to contact universities due to the sheer number of students ringing. Therefore, expect to spend a lot of time on the
  • Oh and you’ll probably want to keep the whole of Thursday 15th and Friday 16th August free, so try not to make any big plans

• Be flexible
  • There may be interesting courses available via Clearing at fantastic universities that you may have not even considered. Keen an open mind about courses and/or subject combinations to increase your chances of getting a place at a brilliant university via Clearing

• Stay contactable
  • Don’t go on holiday and make sure you have good telephone, as well as internet access
  • Make sure to have your UCAS number at hand

• Things to have
  • A-Level results
    • It’s crucial to have your A-Level transcripts with you, including a breakdown of what your coursework and examination scores were

• More than one phone
  • It’s advisable to have more than one phone available so that you can contact multiple universities at the same time to discuss your application if things don’t go to plan