With A-Level results now less than a month away, students are gearing up for the big day when they get their final exam results. But in most cases, they’re not interested in the grades for the sake of knowing how smart they are. No, to an eighteen-year-old A-Level results mean only one thing: Will I get that place at university that I’m after? If the answer to that question unfortunately turns out to be no, or they have held off applying for any courses until they get their results, 15th August that last question will change to this one: how can I get a place through clearing?
Well, to put your mind at rest, the answer to that question will probably be yes. Every year there are loads of great courses available through clearing, with thousands of students coming out the other side of the process every year feeling just as happy as those who got the grades that allowed them to take up the conditional offers they’d been made.
But make no mistake: if you go into clearing, you need your wits about you. You need to keep a cool head and, above all, have all the right information at your fingertips.
That’s why we’ve put together a dedicated clearing section on our website, which gathers together all in one place the things you’ll need to make informed choices during clearing. Here are some of the highlights of what you’ll be able to make use of from either right now–if you know that you’ll be using clearing–or from August 15th–if it turns out you didn’t get the results you expected.
University profiles
One of the most important mistakes to avoid with clearing is to just take the first course offer that comes your way. Going to university is just as much about the overall social and community experience and being in an atmosphere that suits your personality. This is where our university guides can help you. They offer an insight into the pros and cons of each university in the UK, helping you to make an informed choice.
Clearing contacts
Unlike the first stage of the UCAS cycle, going through clearing means dealing directly with admissions officers and lecturers. So you need to know who to speak to and how to get hold of them. Our clearing contacts section contains a huge database of the phone numbers of all the main universities in the UK. Think of them as your hotline to a university place.
Guides to clearing and adjustment
Clearing involves a lot of decision making. And to make decisions wisely, you need to be informed. We’ve got a great selection of articles and guides that will give you a crystal-clear idea of the things you need to consider when going through clearing, as well as step-by-step instructions so that you can navigate yourself to the endpoint of a firm offer.
Guides to Gap Years
Of course, the clearing process doesn’t always end in a university place for everyone. It’s therefore quite a good idea to have a contingency plan of what you’d do for the next year, should it turn out that you won’t be heading off to university. To that end, we’ve also got some great resources for helping you to plan an amazing gap-year experience.