A Level results day is just around the corner and students across Leeds are set to receive their exam results which will see them go onto the next stage in life.
Thousands of year 13 students will be up bright and early on Thursday, August 18 to open the little brown envelopes to see how they did. This will be the first time exams have been sat since the coronavirus pandemic.
A Level results determine your place at university, students submit their applications to several universities and receive either a conditional or unconditional offer. The conditional offer is the more common response, which means students have to achieve a certain grading across their subjects to be allowed access to the course.
Read More: Builder takes down extra storey added to new care home 'by mistake'
However, what if you don't get the result you want? Well that's where university clearing comes in. Clearing is a process whereby students can reapply for other courses at different universities that might better match their actual results.
Clearing officially starts in June and runs until October but on results day many students may be ringing up universities to try and desperately secure a place.
We've put together a list of everything you should know ahead of opening your results, so you can be best prepared if clearing is an option you want to take.
Clearing is how unis and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses. From 5 July – 18 October, you can apply for a course using Clearing if you’re not already holding an offer from a university or college and the course still has places.
According to the UCAS website, you can use clearing if:
- you’re applying after 30 June
- you didn’t receive any offers (or none you wanted to accept)
- you didn’t meet the conditions of your offers
- you've paid the multiple choice application fee of £26.50
- you’ve declined your firm place using the ‘decline my place’ button in your application
To apply for clearing their are several options you can take.
Ask for advice
Talk to an adviser at your school, college, centre, or careers office – they can talk you through alternative courses/subjects. If you’re applying independently, you’ll find everything you need to know about the Clearing process on ucas.com.
Talk to unis or colleges you are interested in
You can use the UCAS search tool to see which courses are available. You can also directly ring up a uni and give them your clearing number to find out if they will accept you, some universities will still accept your results depending on the application.
Students can also receive informal offers over the phone, look at prospective campuses and ask about student accommodation.
Add your clearing choice in your application
Students are able to add a clearing choice one they have permission from the university or college. Once the choice has been added you are officially accepting the offer and you can only add one at a time.
You will know you are in clearing if your application status says 'You are in Clearing' or 'Clearing has started'.
All the information about the process can be found on the UCAS website.
Read next:
