Clearing refers to any UCAS application made after the main application round closes on the 30th of June. Traditionally, Clearing may make you think of a call centre on one of the major results days on the UK (SQA in Scotland and JCQ in the rest of the UK) but it actually opens on the 5th of July. There are a LOT of equestrian programmes in Clearing, so let’s have a quick look at how it works!
Who is Clearing for?
Clearing is for anyone who wishes to go to university this year – courses in Clearing will all start in September. It was originally for applicants who were not holding any offers after the main offer round ends, or for those who do not do as well in their exams over the summer. However, with the current climate in Higher Education, we are seeing more and more Clearing is being used by students to change their decisions, leaving their original Firm choices to go somewhere else.
Who is eligible to receive an offer in Clearing?
Unlike the main application round for UCAS, you must have already achieved your qualifications to receive a Clearing offer. This is why there is often a big rush for Clearing places on results days, hence the call centres that likely spring to mind. However, if you are a Scottish applicant who has already achieved their Highers in S5, or if you have completed another qualification which is not awarded in August, you may well be able to apply through Clearing already.
This means if you are currently holding a Conditional offer and need to wait for your exam results, you likely won’t be eligible for Clearing until results day.
How does applying through Clearing work?
Clearing vacancies are always listed through UCAS their Search Tool from July on wards. If a programme is not listed in the Search tool once Clearing is open, that means it is not available because it already filled all of its spaces in main round.
If an institute lists a programme as having availability, you will then need to navigate to that institution’s own webpage to find out how they would like you to apply. Most of them have a form on their own Clearing pages that you fill out which goes straight to the admissions colleagues making decisions.
What happens next?
The university will check whether or not you meet the entrance requirements, and will likely email you either with either further requirements (for example if they need to see a video of you riding, or for you to provide your educational certificates).
Once you have given them everything that they need, they will tell you to ‘refer yourself to them’ in Clearing. There is instructions here about how to do this. As you can only pick one Clearing choice at a time, you should only do this after the university has told you to. They might reject your Clearing application, otherwise.
If you made a UCAS application originally you will likely already have a personal statement and a reference, when you refer yourself to a university they will automatically be able to see all of this. However, if you are applying through Clearing for the first time, you may need to supply your reference as a separate document to the university.