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Do you have questions around A-level results and/or clearing? Ask an expert here

Do you have any questions that you want to ask someone from UCAS or in university admissions?

The Telegraph are putting together a list of questions and answers to help thousands of students with their concerns around the results period.

Each question you ask will be put forward to the community and voted for as to which ones are best to have answered. The top questions will then be answered someone from UCAS or university admissions!

Post your question below! :h:
(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
Original post by MarleyZ
Do you have any questions that you want to ask someone from UCAS or in university admissions?

The Telegraph are putting together a list of questions and answers to help thousands of students with their concerns around the results period.

Each question you ask will be put forward to the community and voted for as to which ones are best to have answered. The top questions will then be answered someone from UCAS or university admissions!

Post your question below! :h:




When you decide to go into clearing and you do not receive a place you hoped for(already having a conditional at a place) do you lose the spot you had or does is it still valid?
Original post by Zrrg
When you decide to go into clearing and you do not receive a place you hoped for(already having a conditional at a place) do you lose the spot you had or does is it still valid?


To enter Clearing you have to be holding no offer or place. You can of course phone other Unis whilst holding an offer/place but you cannot pick up a Clearing place until you have actually formally entered Clearing - and this is risky because by the time you have phoned your 'current' Unis (both F & I) and they have released you (understandably they don't see this as a priority and it can take days for them to do it) the Clearing place you were so interested in may have gone. You are then left with no Uni place at all. If you are having doubts about the offer(s) you have then a better plan is to cancel your UCAS application for this year and reapply in October - you will then have a choice of all available Unis/courses not just what is in Clearing.
When do the lists of courses from different unis get published? And i saw somewhere that the courses in clearing are published on result day, how will that help with the already massive amount of stress if you do not receive the grades you need? I'm hoping that that the course lists are published alot earlier, when was the full clearing list of 2014 published?
Original post by Velocity_
When do the lists of courses from different unis get published? And i saw somewhere that the courses in clearing are published on result day, how will that help with the already massive amount of stress if you do not receive the grades you need? I'm hoping that that the course lists are published alot earlier, when was the full clearing list of 2014 published?


Well it'll be results day, if they put them out earlier and people saw their courses and unis on there they'd start to panic even more :lol:

Clearing is a stressful process, but there's help there, to lessen the pressure and such.
If I meet my conditional offer but don't want to do the course that I chose. Can I still use clearing?
Reply 6
Original post by Velocity_
When do the lists of courses from different unis get published? And i saw somewhere that the courses in clearing are published on result day, how will that help with the already massive amount of stress if you do not receive the grades you need? I'm hoping that that the course lists are published alot earlier, when was the full clearing list of 2014 published?

The official list comes out on results day. Some unis will start to publish lists on their own website eg www.ntu.ac.uk not via ucas) earlier - this starts to kick off from the Monday of results week, but some unis will start earlier. These lists are likely to be incomplete, so some courses won't appear early and others may be listed but then removed.

These lists mean nothing. They do not mean you have got in or not got in if you have applied for that course already. They do not mean that unis are desperate and will take everyone. They do not mean that the course is terrible.

Equally, some applicants will start to receive communications about Clearing from ucas or other unis. This means that the applicant selected to receive marketing. It does not say anything about the state of your application.
Original post by science33
If I meet my conditional offer but don't want to do the course that I chose. Can I still use clearing?


You would have to get released from your Firm offer first. Understandably, your Firm Uni wont see this as a priority and it can take days for this to be put through to UCAS. This could mean you miss any available places on a course you do want.

If you are already certain that you dont want your Firm, a better option is to ask to be released now - then you will be ready to go as soon as Clearing opens on Results Day. Just remember that in any case, the course you want may not be in Clearing - no-one will know this for certain until August. Dumping what could be a firm place for the uncertainty of Clearing is always a risk.
Original post by Velocity_
When do the lists of courses from different unis get published? And i saw somewhere that the courses in clearing are published on result day, how will that help with the already massive amount of stress if you do not receive the grades you need? I'm hoping that that the course lists are published alot earlier, when was the full clearing list of 2014 published?


Unis cannot publish definite vacancy lists before they know who has fulfilled their offer or not, and therefore before they know if there are any spaces. And no list will ever be entirely up to date as Clearing info changes by the minute. There may be only 1 or 2 spaces on any particular course and possibly only for those with high grades/certain subject combinations etc. And these could go immediately the Clearing lines at that Uni opens. So immediately any previous listing via UCAS or the Telegraph etc is out of date.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
Hello again. I do btecs and do edexcel markers come into schools/centres to check work?


And what happens when your grades are handed into UCAS late?
(edited 8 years ago)
What do colleges pay for exactly for A Level examinations?
Exam papers? Invigilator fee? Etc.
Reply 11
how will the predicted grades system work
Original post by Zrrg

And what happens when your grades are handed into UCAS late?


You have until 31 August to supply your Uni with your results.

If you know they will be published later than expected, or they are delayed because you have asked for a remark, you MUST tell both your Firm and Insurance about the delay. If you don't you risk them rejecting you by default.
Original post by boyyo
how will the predicted grades system work

This has nothing to do with Clearing. We are talking here about what happens after actual A level and other exam results are published in August.
Hi,
I know i have the grades to meet my firm (ABB)
but i don't want to go there anymore.
Should i risk releasing myself into clearing now ahead of results day
or should i wait to see if i qualify for adjustment,
I DEFINITELY won't be happy at my firm and i KNOW i don't want to go there, at all.
I'm a bit worried because universities such as Manchester have written on their page
Sorry, we no longer have places available through clearing for 2015 entry.
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/un...ng-adjustment/

Ahead of results day.
I think it's worth the risk.
Will my firm retake me in if i decide to apply through clearing,
My reasoning is more complex than just not wanting to go there. I also might need to stay in London due to having to care for a family member, this is not definite this is a maybe. If i explain this to them and the situation changes will they let me reapply?
Thank you.
How easy is it to get better accommodation if you have to drop into clearing? e.g. I don't get the grades for my main, so have to go to my insurance - how easy is it for me to get better accommodation
Original post by Intellectuallyty
Hi,
1) I know i have the grades to meet my firm (ABB) but i don't want to go there anymore.
Should i risk releasing myself into clearing now ahead of results day or should i wait to see if i qualify for adjustment,

2) Will my firm retake me in if i decide to apply through clearing,


1) If you think you will qualify for Adjustment then wait until Results Day. This is because you need to exceed the requirements of your Firm to be eligible. If you have dropped your Firm/Insurance and are waiting for Clearing you will not be eligible.

2) Playing games like this usually backfires. To begin with, your Firm choice may not even be in Clearing (and you wont know this in advance), and also Universities get very fed up very quickly with people who mess them about - regardless of any personal circumstances. And - you've just said you don't want to go to your Firm.

Remember, you always have the option of not going to Uni this year, and reapplying in the autumn for 2016, If Life is a bit complicated at the moment that might give you some valuable breathing space, and allow you to make a less panicky decision..
Original post by returnmigrant
1) If you think you will qualify for Adjustment then wait until Results Day. This is because you need to exceed the requirements of your Firm to be eligible. If you have dropped your Firm/Insurance and are waiting for Clearing you will not be eligible.
2) Playing games like this usually backfires. To begin with, your Firm choice may not even be in Clearing (and you wont know this in advance), and also Universities get very fed up very quickly with people who mess them about - regardless of any personal circumstances. And - you've just said you don't want to go to your Firm.
Remember, you always have the option of not going to Uni this year, and reapplying in the autumn for 2016, If Life is a bit complicated at the moment that might give you some valuable breathing space, and allow you to make a less panicky decision..

I'm unsure of whether or not i'll be able to go through adjustment, i definitely want to go this year.
I think clearing will be the easiest option
Original post by angelfox
How easy is it to get better accommodation if you have to drop into clearing? e.g. I don't get the grades for my main, so have to go to my insurance - how easy is it for me to get better accommodation


You will get a choice of whatever Accom is left. Unis usually only guarantee accom for those holding/achieving Firm choices. Each Uni is different and will have very different processes and policies for Insurance or Clearing folk. If you wake up on Results Day and you *are* going to your Insurance or get accepted elsewhere through Clearing, then you need to phone that Uni's Accommodation Office as soon as you can (NOT their main Clearing Hotline!). Remember that all Uni towns have non-Uni owned student accommodation (Unite, IQ, Student Housing etc) outside the Uni's control. Another place worth looking is http://student.spareroom.co.uk/ - lots of rooms in existing flatshares etc.
(edited 8 years ago)

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