The month of June is in some ways a strange lull in the undergraduate university application cycle. With the regular deadline for applications having passed way back in January, students have nevertheless been able to submit applications throughout the year, the only difference being that universities were not obliged to look at these applications. This, however, was not necessarily such a big deal earlier in the year, as many courses would still not be full, meaning that admissions officers would still be keen to hear from suitable applicants.

By June, however, things are looking a little different. Over the past five or six months many more courses will now be full, meaning that submitting a brand new application now would perhaps not yield many takers.

At the end of the month, however, everything changes. Because at the start of July, clearing opens. Clearing is often seen as some sort of manic dash for places, entered into either by people who didn’t get the grades they had hoped for or those who have decided at the last minute that they want to go to university. Really, though, it’s simply another stage in the admissions process, during which applicants can deal a bit more directly with universities and within which there are slightly fewer course options available.

Whether you put in a UCAS application months ago and don’t think you’ll get the grades you need for your offers (or having second thoughts about your original range of choices), or are now thinking you’d like to head off to university this September having not previously made an application, clearing can be a great way to find yourself a place at university. It is not, however, the best choice for everyone, and a little bit of careful thought is required before you decide whether or not to take a place through clearing.

Essentially the question you need to ask yourself is this: Could I end up on a better or more suitable course or going to a university I like better if I bide my time and apply next year instead?

If when you look through the clearing listings you see loads of courses that you’re itching to apply for, then great; clearing is definitely for you. But if you find yourself looking through the list of courses on offer through clearing and you catch yourself engaging in quite a bit of wishful or optimistic thinking to make what you see fit what you had in mind, stop what you’re doing, step away from the clearing lists and go and have a look at the university websites themselves. If on these sites you come across courses that instinctively appeal to you much more strongly–and moreover are ones you’d have a realistic chance of getting into–but are not available through clearing, the chances are that you’d be better off waiting for a year and putting in an application at the beginning of the next UCAS cycle.

This way, you’ll be among the first crop of applicants for the courses that you actually want to do, rather than accepting a course that really is of less interest to you and whose only advantage is that it gets you into university a year sooner.

The downside of making this braver choice is of course the prospect of a year out of education, for which you’ve made no plans, while all your friends swan off to uni or take gap years in exotic destinations. But you need to think in the longer term; one year of your life is not a great deal of time, whereas being lumbered with a degree you didn’t really want will last forever (even if the debt from it only lasts a couple of decades!). And we’ve got plenty of articles on gap years over on our site that can give you inspiration on what to do if you do choose not to go through clearing.