Does anyone know how clearing works on A level results day? Ringing round first and timings??

[loveyouradvice]

Hi

I'm getting really confused here.

1. When can you start applying through clearing if you have missed both your firm and back up offers?

I've read that places on the most popular courses can go by 9 am - but also that Clearing only opens at 3pm that day to give students and teachers time to reflect on best options

1. How to do it?

Supposedly ringing and getting informal offers is the way to do it... but others say it is impossible to get through on the phone.

What do you think?

DD is aiming for a popular subject so likely to not be many choices at the unis she is interested in.

No knowledge yet as dd is year 12 but hoping someone will come and help. However with things as they are will it be easier this year as a lot may defer their places? Good luck to your dd

I can only give you how it worked in 2018.
DD was looking up availablity from very early on like end of July and already earmarked Sheffield for Biology as a possible.

On the day, her results came through before 9 and she got an email from her first choice saying congratulations & welcome. so she could have emailed / linked/ whatever UCAS do at that point.

At school where they collected their results - they had a couple of teachers on standby to support and help students through the process.

Get you DD to have a look now at who is saying they may have spaces - you'll both feel more in control and you'll have an idea of what's going on. If things don't work out with her grades - approach both firm and back-up. Although they may have already reached out.

It's not an absolute panic - no one expects your DD to make an instant decision.

Good luck!

As part of my job I sometimes man the phones at the uni where I work. We start at 7:30am and people are ringing then. Not sure how long they’ve been trying to get through.

There is an ongoing results/uni thread on the Higher Ed board, you could try asking on there as there are loads of experts and you may get more answers:-

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3962422-University-2020-6-The-one-with-the-results-at-the-end?msgid=99037420

Given results are embargoed until 8am, I assume no university can open its phone lines before then this year, can they?

Clearing is already open so they can start to short list possibles - see university websites. A level results are released at 6am and ucas opens at 8am, though dd had her confirmation from her first choice despite missing a grade by 7.30am. If at 8am it's confirmed they haven't reached their offers, or they reject them then clearing opens up on the portal.

Get a game plan worked out as far as where (in the country) and which courses are interesting at different grade brackets is my advice and don't rush - worst case scenario is a year out and is that such a bad thing this year??? Best of luck, it's stressful but it's going to be fine

DD definitely the message from her uni before 8am on results day

Lines open at 8am. You can phone and you may also be able to apply online.

It's previously been 6am, but is 8am this year.

DS's Firm was in Clearing and has now gone, as have two others of the unis he looked at. He has a full list of what is in Clearing and what UCAS points they require.

DPotter, as others have said, the results have always previously been released at 6am, hence your daughter getting it earlier. This year it is embargoed until 8am, as it was in Scotland last week.

Really interesting and how much do they use UCAS points as opposed to grades? so music, drama and DofE can all add points - do these count?

And for which unis??

That was a bit confused... I really mean if she has slipped a grade in one subject, can she use the other things to "make up the difference" or not??

As I understand it, in Clearing, the only UCAS points that count are A level results but I might well be wrong. The tariff calculator is here: www.ucas.com/ucas/tariff-calculator.

DoE is not worth any UCAS points. It is one of those commonly held myths that it does, but not even Gold has UCAS points allocated to it.

If she's dropped a grade and added her grade 6+ music and her uni was one that counted them in their offer, then they would already have been considered.

Not sure why you think clearing doesn't open till 3pm - it opened weeks ago! Phone lines will be open at 8. Many unis are operating clearing from home though so you may have to leave a phone number and wait for a call back.

But get searching uni websites now and have a plan for Thursday just n case.

Worth bearing in mind lots of unis are doing it differently this year. The uni I work at won’t have a clearing phone line - you fill in an online form and you’ll be called back.

Look on UCAS to see what’s currently in clearing and get some ideas, then visit those uni websites to see what the process is.

If her offer is BBB and she gets ABC they may still take her but it’s up to the individual university there’s no blanket rule. The exception would be if her offer was in UCAS points, then it’s just about getting the right amount of points from accepted qualifications and any subject requirements.

Have a look at The Student Room website. They have loads of useful info and guidance on how Clearing works.

Sorry should have said - every uni has a different policy on what they’ll accept to go towards UCAS points. Both my firm and insurance (a few years back!) had the same UCAS points required, but one would accept my music qualifications to them and one wouldn’t.

Clearing open now. Applicants using it who are not waiting for A level results. Eg IB, Scottish Highers, mature applicants

It may be worth following/liking UCAS on FB or other social media. They are updating regularly and lots of the comments above do not apply this year.

I thought anyone who had missed their grades having taken anything other than A levels had to wait until A level results day to find out if they would get in on a lower offer. It seems very unfair that those who benefit from getting their results earlier get first dibs on clearing places.

Really interesting ... thanks guys! Look forward to learning more and hope we all get places our DC can flourish at