Introduction to Clearing

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What is Clearing?

• Clearing is a way for universities to fill any spaces they have. It gives applicants another chance of finding a university place, perhaps if they didn't get the grades they needed to get into their first choice university.
• Clearing is still part of the UCAS process.
• If you haven't met your offers, or have changed your mind, Clearing may be for you!

When does Clearing happen and for how long?

Clearing actually starts in mid-July! But if you are waiting for exam results then you will have to wait until you have your results. In 2011, for A-level students this will be Thursday 18 August and for Scottish students, who get their results earlier, it will be on Thursday 4 August.

People can still be offered a place through Clearing up until 24 October, but you have to have submitted your completed UCAS application by 20 September. Many, if not most, Clearing places will be allocated within the first week, but some will be available for much longer. The electronic lists on UCAS are updated frequently, as unis inform UCAS that places have been filled. Never enter a Clearing choice on Track without having been asked by the uni to do so, as this can slow the process down and may result in you missing out on a place at university this year.

Can I go through Clearing?

You are eligible for Clearing if you have applied in the current application year, you have not withdrawn your application and one of the following criteria applies to you:

• you hold no offers
• your offers have not been confirmed because you have not met the conditions (e.g. you have not achieved the required grades)
• you have declined your offers or not responded by the due date
• your offers have not been confirmed, and you have declined any alternative offers from the same university
• you have applied after 30 June: if UCAS received your application after these dates, they will not have sent it to any universities and colleges and you will go straight into Clearing.

If you are in Clearing, then you will be given a Clearing number which will appear on your UCAS Track. You will need to provide universities with this number when talking to them, to allow them to view your UCAS application. You cannot apply through Clearing unless you have your Clearing number.

Where can I apply?

You can apply to any university and any course that has vacancies during Clearing. You don't have to apply for the same type of course that you applied for when making your original UCAS application. If you do change your subject choice then make sure the new course is right for you!

Universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and UCL don't usually enter Clearing because there is such a lot of competition to attend these universities in the first place. However most other universities will have some vacancies for some courses.

Where do I find vacancy information?

• The Telegraph newspaper publishes a full list of all Clearing vacancies. They publish the first guide on results day and continue to publish guides for a week. Other newspapers may have Clearing guides but they probably won't have a complete Clearing listing of all the courses available - they may only have regional guides.
• The UCAS site will have Clearing vacancies on their Course Search
• Most universities will publish their vacancies on their own websites.
• You may also see some universities advertising in your local newspaper or on the TV.

How does Clearing work?

Here's a short summary of what happens when universities get the exam results:

Lets say the quota of places on your course is 50. The uni might give out 120 offers, of which 40 accept as conditional firms, and another 30 accept as conditional insurance.

The universities get everyone's results from UCAS on the Sunday before the results get released to students, so they can see who has met the requirements and who has not. Lets say 30 of the 40 conditional firms make their grades, and 12 of the conditional insurances miss their firms but make their insurance. That means that 42 out of 50 places on the course are automatically filled up, and the uni has to spend the next few days, from Sunday to Thursday, deciding who will get the final 8 places.

They will consider those 10 conditional firms who missed their grades, rank them, and choose the lucky 8 who are going to get offered places anyway. They aren't obliged to do that; if only 6 of them had semi decent grades and 4 had missed by a long way, the uni might keep the other 2 places free and go into clearing, hoping to pick up some high grade achievers who had missed their offers elsewhere.

The Admissions Team then informs UCAS that they have vacancies for courses a, b, or c, and this information is published in the electronic lists on the UCAS website. What isn't published is how many places there may be. Grade requirements may be stated on the university's own website, but otherwise should be assumed to be as given in the standard prospectus. The Telegraph publishes the full list as declared by unis on the Wednesday before Results Day, but this will rapidly become out of date, and should be used only to give you a general idea of what's on offer.

Applicants in Clearing must contact universities directly, not UCAS. Clearing contact details for each university can be found in the Clearing Contacts Directory. During a conversation with the admissions tutor, an applicant will be asked about their grades and interest in the subject they are applying for. After this, the applicant may be offered a place straight away, put on a reserve list, or turned down. The applicant is free to talk to as many universities as s/he wants to, where there are suitable vacancies, but they may only make one clearing choice at a time via their UCAS Track, and only after 6pm on Results day. An applicant should only put down a clearing choice in Track if they have discussed it with the university and been given a verbal offer. Clearing acceptances do happen quickly, and you will not have to wait as long for offers as when you first applied. After the university has accepted an applicant's Clearing application, they will send out an AS12 letter confirming the place.

This is only a brief look into the Clearing process. For more information and detail see the Guide to Clearing.

Comments

Thanks to Juno for writing the original version of this article and MagicNMedicine for the summary of how clearing works.