Clearing and Adjustment – what you need to know for Thursday

What is Clearing?

Clearing is the UCAS procedure students enter if they decide not to take either of their university offers (and have agreed this with the universities where they are holding offers), they don’t meet the conditions of their chosen course(s), or they have applied to university late.

Clearing is a procedure where all university courses with available places advertise these vacancies to students without offers.

What is Adjustment?

Less common than Clearing, you may enter Adjustment if you have done better than predicted, and wish to go to a different university from those you accepted a firm and insurance offer from. Adjustment students have the option to go to a university with higher entry requirements, but higher entry requirements don’t necessarily mean it’s a better course. Everyone is different-your perfect course might be at the university you originally applied for, so think carefully before giving up your place at the university you’ve wanted to go to for the past few months.

As there are a lot more students who enter Clearing than Adjustment, we’ll focus on Clearing here.

A FEW POINTS TO REMEMBER

You will get LOTS of advice this week from lots of people (family, family friends, the neighbour’s cat etc.), so let’s keep this short.

1. If you are going into Clearing (it will tell you on UCAS Track if you’re eligible), have a look on the UCAS website or in the Telegraph newspaper on Thursday for the list of courses that have places and useful telephone numbers.

2. When you’ve found a course you like, call the university. Phone lines may be busy but keep trying. Make sure you have all your information to hand (personal details, results, UCAS number, phone number they can reach you on) and a pen and paper, to make it as easy as possible.

3. It’s difficult, but try to visit the university BEFORE making an application. You’re going to be there for 3 (or more) years – go and have a look at the town/city, accommodation, facilities, meet the tutors. Many tutors will invite you to the university before you apply anyway, so take them up on this offer.

4. Remember you only get one choice for clearing, and once you’ve made a decision and entered onto UCAS Track, it’s final. Make sure you are 100% happy with the course and university before entering it. You can call as many universities as you like and receive verbal offers, but they may have a time constraint on them (e.g. 24-48 hours).

 Also remember you can choose a completely different course to the one you originally applied for. For example, if you applied for Business Studies, but you have the entry requirements for Fine Art in Clearing, you can apply to that instead.

5. Don’t make any rushed decisions in a panic. You can’t add any choices onto your UCAS application until around 5pm on results day for this reason.

Although it’s a stressful time, remember why you made the decisions you did in the first place – if you decided you didn’t want to move too far from home, don’t apply to a university that is 5 hours away. If you applied for Geography and you’re now considering Film Studies – what has changed? Why did you pick Geography in the first place? If you applied for a course in a smaller town because you prefer quieter locations, don’t choose a London university. And visit the university to make sure you like it, can see yourself living there (if you are moving away) and know exactly what to expect when you arrive in September. You might like surprises, but University doesn’t want to be one of them.

And finally, Considering Uni? is here to help if you need us – we don’t have a website but a qualified careers adviser is on hand to answer questions via social media – get in touch (WordPress, Twitter, and Facebook) and we’ll do our best to help.

6 THINGS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER BEFORE RESULTS DAY

1. Don’t panic!

There is nothing you can do before you get your results, so try to take you mind off it. I know this is easy for someone who isn’t in your position to say, but try to keep yourself busy until Thursday.

2. Think of a plan B NOW, just in case.

It’s always useful to have a plan B, then you will feel more prepared for results day. Make sure you know what Clearing and Adjustment are (look on the UCAS website for more information), as a minimum.

3. Check UCAS Track on Thursday.

In a lot of cases, it will tell you if you’ve been accepted into your university. If not, give your university a call. Just because your place is not confirmed on UCAS Track it doesn’t mean you haven’t been accepted. There are lots of reasons for this – you may need to send them additional information, for example.

Remember to check UCAS Track before calling the university – they will be receiving lots of calls on results day so only call them if necessary.

4. Get your results in person, if possible.

Your teachers and various other qualified staff will be at your college / sixth form to offer help, should you need it. They’re there if you need any advice, which you won’t receive if you stay at home.

5. If you really haven’t done as well as you wanted to, consider your other options.

Have you thought about doing a higher apprenticeship? Could you take a year out? Do an extra year of studies? How about looking at a different course or studying at a different institution?

6. If you are going into Clearing, don’t panic!!

Plenty of students have gone through Clearing and have a brilliant time at university (me included). There will be lots of students in this position, and it can be stressful, so try to gain the advice you need from qualified staff at your school/college and reputable websites, but also make sure to take a step back and think about the decision you are making.

Best of luck on Thursday!