Can I use clearing if I have my grades and an offer?

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about this for the past month. I am a gap year student and I had to resit to 2 exams this year just to up the grade. I got BBC last year and this year I think I'll end up with ABC.

I currently have an offer from Reading for Geography andI wanted to just call to enquire to see if they'd be willing to accept my grades as they are and see if I can slip through clearing. Or should I wait until results day and see if I get in?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about this for the past month. I am a gap year student and I had to resit to 2 exams this year just to up the grade. I got BBC last year and this year I think I'll end up with ABC.


I currently have an offer from Reading for Geography andI wanted to just call to enquire to see if they'd be willing to accept my grades as they are and see if I can slip through clearing. Or should I wait until results day and see if I get in?

Thanks

@Carnationlilyrose @PQ please can I get a sense check on this advice?

I'm pretty sure I know this answer to this but I'll just double check...

If you get accepted into your firm, do you then have to decline their offer in order to call up other universities to see if they will accept you onto their course through clearing?

If you get accepted to your firm you CAN'T decline your offer unilaterally. You have to contact your firm and ASK if they will place you into clearing.

When they get round to doing this (on average it takes 48 hours from results day, in some cases it can take 2 weeks if your firm is being unhelpful) then you'll be officially in Clearing. Until that point universities are forbidden from talking to you about places (it's considered "poaching" other university's applicants).

So am I right in assuming once your firm agrees to put you in clearing, you no longer have a spot with that university? So if you can't find anywhere better and change your mind they don't have to take you back?

Also does what you have told me also apply to your insurance choice? (if you got accepted into your insurance and not your firm)

Yes - if you're placed into clearing then you forfeit your firm choice.

If your firm accepts you then your insurance choice is no longer valid. Once accepted by your firm the only way to switch to your insurance is to ask to be placed into clearing and hope they're willing to accept you via that route.

If your firm reject you but your insurance accept you then you have to ask your insurance choice to be placed into clearing. In doing so you would forfeit your insurance choice.

Clearing is designed to match unplaced applicants with vacancies - not to allow applicants to play the field.