First, it is important to know exactly what Clearing is and how it will affect your future career options. This is a system that operates between July and September of each year. You may participate in Clearing if you already chose to apply through UCAS and you have not received any offers, you declined all offers, you failed to respond prior to the due date, or your offers went unconfirmed due to conditions not being met, such as failing to achieve the required grades. Additionally, you may apply if you have declined a change of your course, if you have a changed date of entry or changed point of entry offer, or if you applied for one course that was then subsequently declined or unsuccessful and you already paid the full £23 fee.
If you chose to make only a single choice on your original application, a further £12 will allow you to apply to universities and colleges through Clearing and you are allowed to complete your application until 20 September 2018. If you were to apply after 30 June, you will automatically find yourself entered into Clearing and so you must not fill in any choices on your application. Between mid-August and late September, you may view a full list of course vacancies on both the UCAS website and in the Telegraph newspaper.
Give Yourself a Head Start
Clearing 2018 may be a stressful event to consider for some but there are many actions you may take that will allow you to feel more peace of mind in the months leading up to exams and the risk of needing to go into Clearing. At the end of June, find out what courses were still on offer at that time; you may also find it helpful to check out the requirements for entry for such courses and try to realistically evaluate your chances in regards to grades. Additionally, take a good look at the university websites for the courses you wish to enter and ensure that you are happy with the content offered in the course so that you will be taught everything that you wish to learn from the course.
How Does Clearing Work?
Clearing for 2018 will start off on A-level results day, which will fall on Thursday, 16 August 2018. That said, Scottish students receive their results at an earlier date, meaning that they may start on 9 August 2018, but this is only for Scottish universities. If you know before this that you intend to go into Clearing, you may begin looking for valuable information and try to decide where you wish to go. Some universities may publish information about vacancies on their websites as soon as this information is made available.