UoB CompSci Clearing

I've seen that UoB is in Clearing for CompSci. Their minimum entry requirements are A*AA.

I'm prepping for all eventualities here. If I get A*ABB with an A in my EPQ, are they likely to accept me on results day, do you think?

I don't need a definitive answer, but just your opinion on my chances of acceptance. Additionally, do they often have Computing in Clearing year to year?

Also, I had a question regarding the Clearing process (I realise this is probably not the most appropriate place to ask this, but I thought I'd ask anyway):

What time do the Clearing hotlines open? My school sends us our results on our portals at 8 am sharp. Can I start making calls as soon as I get my results or do I have to give it some time? I know the UCAS update for firm and insurance is somewhere between 8 and 8:15, so can I start making Clearing calls at 8:15 onwards?

Please let me know what you think and I realise that I'm asking a lot of questions, but if you could please help and answer my questions as honestly as possible, it would be much appreciated.

Is Birmingham your current firm choice?
In order to give you clear instructions about what happens when we need to know if you are holding any offers at the moment and the conditions of your offers.

Nope, it's a Clearing course I'm looking into.
My firm is Imperial (A*AAA with grade 2 in STEP II) and my insurance is Edinburgh (3 A*s). I should have put a bit more thought into my options, I realise, but I was going off what it said on the website and I didn't think things through properly.
I had put down Durham as one of my options which would've been A*AA (which I can achieve), but they rejected me and Edinburgh had on their website that their offers ranged from AAB to 3 A*s. I didn't think that I was going to end up with the top end of their range and I later found out that the AAB is typically reserved for contextual applicants and that non-contextual applicants get 3 A*s as their standard offer so it was poor decision-making on my part and I realise that.

Little bit to the side, but are you taking four a levels and an EPQ or Three + an EPQ?

Nope, it's a Clearing course I'm looking into.
My firm is Imperial (A*AAA with grade 2 in STEP II) and my insurance is Edinburgh (3 A*s). I should have put a bit more thought into my options, I realise, but I was going off what it said on the website and I didn't think things through properly.
I had put down Durham as one of my options which would've been A*AA (which I can achieve), but they rejected me and Edinburgh had on their website that their offers ranged from AAB to 3 A*s. I didn't think that I was going to end up with the top end of their range and I later found out that the AAB is typically reserved for contextual applicants and that non-contextual applicants get 3 A*s as their standard offer so it was poor decision-making on my part and I realise that.

Nope, it's a Clearing course I'm looking into.

My firm is Imperial (A*AAA with grade 2 in STEP II) and my insurance is Edinburgh (3 A*s). I should have put a bit more thought into my options, I realise, but I was going off what it said on the website and I didn't think things through properly.

I had put down Durham as one of my options which would've been A*AA (which I can achieve), but they rejected me and Edinburgh had on their website that their offers ranged from AAB to 3 A*s. I didn't think that I was going to end up with the top end of their range and I later found out that the AAB is typically reserved for contextual applicants and that non-contextual applicants get 3 A*s as their standard offer so it was poor decision-making on my part and I realise that.

@PQ ^^

We know that waiting for your results can be a stressful time, and are keen to support your academic success. Your passion and commitment for your subjects are important to us, and we want to alleviate some of the pressure during your current studies so that you can concentrate on that without worrying about getting into your first-choice university. In recent years, we have been able to accept Computer Science students who have made us their firm choice but not quite achieved their offer grades, at one grade below their entrance offer. If you decide to do likewise, we are committed to offering you this same level of flexibility when you get your results this summer. Please note that you must still achieve a minimum of an A in A Level Mathematics.

It's really tough to know if Brum will be flexible
What sort of grades do you think you might get?
If you want some really good CS courses that are likely to be happy with ABB or lower then I'd look at Aston and Surrey - they both have very good placement years available on their CS courses which is going to make more impact on your employment prospects than "prestige". I'd rate both above Brum and Durham for CS even though their requirements are lower. Entry requirements are mainly a function of popularity with 17 year olds so russell group courses have their entry requirements inflated even if the courses aren't rated that highly in industry.

I will add that Birmingham did send offer holders an email a few months back about flexibility with their offer, but only if it was their firm choice. This was in March, which may suggest they weren't getting the numbers they hoped for, but we don't know for sure. Looks like they want A*AA in clearing, so they may be trying to keep them high for people who haven't considered them previously to maintain their 'prestige' for entry standards.

Maths - high A*
Further Maths - guaranteed A, maybe low A* depending on the boundaries
Chemistry - 60% chance of an A, 40% of a B. I think I might've done better here (i.e. higher chance of getting an A), but I need to look at the UOMSes made by fellow students (I'll take things with a pinch of salt, but I can remember roughly how each question went).
Computer Science - Low A, high B, depending on boundaries. I thought it went really well coming out of the exam, but in retrospect, it's gone terribly. That being said, that might also have something to do with my school marking exams really really harshly. They did this with us at GCSE and all through Year 12 and 13. Everyone was scoring 7s in the mocks and when the final exams came, we all got grade 9s, despite putting the same work in as what we did for our mocks and the papers were similar in difficulty. For our year 12 mocks, they not only marked the papers incredibly harshly, but the grade boundaries were also crazy. Only two people in our year actually got an A* in that mock and they were exactly on the boundary.
EPQ - Definitely achieved an A.
Would the fact that I'm doing 4 + EPQ not make them lower their threshold ever so slightly? I have a friend who has similar predicted grades (3 A levels instead of 4 and no Computer Science or Further Maths. He does Physics, Maths and Chem) as my worst case actual results and applied to them directly as one of his five and they gave him an offer for AAA or AAB with an A in EPQ and non-contextual. I also have some notable things I can mention, though I'm not entirely sure the value it will carry and whether I will actually get a chance to mention it. I achieved a merit in the Senior kangaroo, I've completed industry standard projects, work experience etc.
Additionally, more courses appear in Clearing on Results Day, don't they, so I'll take a close look then as well.
I was also looking at foundation years as an option. When they say Integrated Foundation year, does this mean that it forms a part of the three year course, or is it an extra year and I'm on the actual course after that one year?

I'm hoping I've achieved that, but not too sure. Gotta wait until Results Day to find out I guess.
Do you think they would still accept me with A*ABB with an A in EPQ? What do you think my chances are on a scale of 1-10?