Clearing 2022

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Hi
My nails are becoming ever shorter as results day looms next week for DD.
It's my first time dealing with A level results and want to be prepared in case she ends up in clearing.
Could someone explain how best to prepare? I've looked on UCAS and seen that Universities are already advertising their clearing places. However, these all seem to require the standard entrance requirements. Is it the case that the grades required will drop once the Universities know how many spaces they have to fill come results day?
Also - is it worthwhile getting admissions phone numbers ready for potential courses or am I over preparing for something that may not even be necessary?

As you can tell I am nervous!

Hi OP
I have some experience here as DD went through Clearing in 2019. Caveat: it was different then as that was pre-pandemic and without all the factors that may be an issue this year.

Last year there was very limited Clearing all and a lot of unis had none; for sure there will be more this year.
Firstly, do you think your DD will miss on her firm and insurance choices? Has she got a good insurance which is asking for significantly lower grades?

If that does happen, the day is challenging but can be navigated. I am not sure tbh if unis will lower their offers between now and next week. What I do know is that on the day, those answering the calls really don’t have much scope for negotiation – I recall ringing one uni and asking if their BBB clearing offer could be BBC and they just said “no”.

What I would do is identify some unis that might be able to offer DD a place. If we had done this for my DD (whose lower grades were a surprise) then we probs would have picked out about half a dozen unis on what might be said to be the lower ranking.

So for context, DD held offers from Warwick and Birmingham; through clearing she was offered places at City of Brum, Leeds Beckett, Lincoln, Notts Trent – that’s the kind of thing I mean.

We found that the info on offer was very variable. Some unis had a clear opening page with clearing offers, in other cases it was a long search. Once you have a Clearing offer (assuming this is the same) you have to accept or reject it by the end of the following day. So for DD, Leics Uni were able to offer her a place, and also a clearing open day the next day which she was able to go to. For some reason it had not been on our radar but in fact it worked out really well and she has just graduated with a First.

So what I would do if I were you (in advance) is select some unis that might work – we were looking in a prescribed area closeish to home for example. Make sure they are likely to offer – so if she currently has an offer from Sheffield but may not make it, would Sheffield Hallam work? That kind of thing. I found the Clearing day exhausting and sometimes dispiriting but ultimately successful. You and DD will need to be flexible and some compromises will be inevitable if she does need Clearing – a different course, a further away or nearer location, a lower-ranked uni. A friend’s DD ended up at Canterbury which they had not considered as it was so far away. It was far away but they worked round it and she had a successful uni career as well.

Good luck to your DD!

I’m on my 3rd child going through this. I would gather a few numbers together for any unis you think your dc might be interested in. Also good to arrange to be around on the day if you would normally be at work etc. If you need to go through clearing it’s helpful to have several family members phoning different unis as the lines will be busy.

Your dc can usually register with unis for clearing now but they might not be prepared to do that at this stage.

It’s also good to have their GCSE results to hand.

There Is a long-running thread in the Further Education section with lots of parents in a similar situation if you would like to join us!

I’m on my 3rd child going through this. I would gather a few numbers together for any unis you think your dc might be interested in. Also good to arrange to be around on the day if you would normally be at work etc.

Your dc can usually register with unis for clearing now but they might not be prepared to do this at this stage. It’s also good to have their GCSE results to hand.

There Is a long-running thread in the Further Education section with lots of parents in a similar situation if you would like to join us!

Sorry for the duplicate post. Patchy WiFi.

The universities get all the results by the end of this week and stuff will start to come out of clearing as they know who they are accepting. It is worth keeping an eye on this - in 2020, my ds’s Firm and Insurance were in clearing until the Friday before results then both dropped off. He was fine as got Firm but we had a list of what he might have available up to the confirmation of his place on UCAS.

There is also UCAS Clearing Plus, which looks to be an automatic set-up now (I think that when it or something similar was first introduced, it was something that had to be actively registered wirh by the applicant).

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/results-confirmation-and-clearing/what-clearing/what-clearing-plus

At this stage I would simply ensure they have their log in details and school related information to hand for next week. Once the results are in you often have to wait a couple of hours to get your place confirmed if your results weren't an exact match (my dd had a 2 hour nail biting wait from her first choice when she missed the a in physics - they accepted her) then it goes to your insurance which could take a further couple of hours but meanwhile you can start to look on clearing to see the offers, typically they are 2-3 grades below initial grades eg rather than aaa, abb. Even top universities are in clearing and you can upgrade if you get better than expected grades (used to be called adjustment).

Just be aware clearing is fast, the offers you can hold long enough to visit, often there's open days that Saturday, but the sooner you confirm the quicker accommodation can be sought. Universities with plentiful accommodation are preferable in clearing

Universities with plentiful accommodation are preferable in clearing

That’s a really good point. Uni of Leics guaranteed DD a place in halls (not much choice but still a place) if she confirmed by that weekend.

Some of the less popular unis are worth a look btw op (and anyone) - to read MN sometimes you would think it complete disaster not to go to UCL or Oxford but it really isn’t.

And they may have more availability - last year lots of v popular unis were full bc of TAGs, but less popular ones had space and maybe offered a better experience (eg choice of halls). Dd was offered a v good deal on uni accom for her third year last summer, while ds2 nearly didn’t get any hall space at Lboro.

Hopefully it will even out this year tho.

Following with interest, some great advice here for us novices

Someone posted this video over on another thread. It has some good advice.

Even top universities are in clearing and you can upgrade if you get better than expected grades (used to be called adjustment).

This isn’t correct anymore. If you hit your grades for your firm or insurance then you have to take them. You can’t “upgrade” through clearing.

OP most universities don’t typically reduce their offers in clearing. They advertise their places on the normal requirements. If Leicester is usually asking ABB and your dc didn’t get that (say they got BBB) then it isn’t that they will ask for BBB in clearing thus enabling your dc to get in anyway, it’s that someone else who missed their AAA offer from Birmingham will take the ABB Leicester place.

If you hit your grades for your firm or insurance then you have to take them. You can’t “upgrade” through clearing.

That's not quite true either (unless it has changed in the last two years!) - DD knew people who had been offered their firm choice (or insurance) and decided they didn't want to go there after all, rejected the place, and found somewhere else through Clearing. The Canterbury friend was one, and another was a friend who got her offer at Warwick but changed her mind altogether about the subject and ended up at Cardiff.

Yes, Adjustment no longer exists but you can still change your mind. It's a roll of the dice tho as you have to reject course A before you can be offered course B.

Yes, Adjustment no longer exists but you can still change your mind. It's a roll of the dice tho as you have to reject course A before you can be offered course B.

Is that true? Or can you call around to find a potential place, then self-release your firm/insurance offer once you have a clearing offer?

Actually <blush> I am not sure - DD had no offer at all so nothing to reject haha.

But a friend told me the other day that they had had to reject her DD's offer and it was a bit panicky - so I took it that they had to do it before sorting out her Clearing place. But maybe she just meant they were taking a bit of a leap into the unknown (because they hadn't viewed the Clearing Uni?)

No worries, it's so stressful!
I popped over to WIWIKAU and it seems that you can explore clearing options, and then reject and get your clearing reference number once you have a clearing offer in writing.

DD is planning to apply through clearing even if she gets her firm, and definitely if she gets her insurance. She's already completed the clearing application for her favoured uni and just needs to add her results on Thursday. So fingers crossed! She also has a hit list of other unis/courses if that one doesn't work out.

Some uni staff are answering questions on the WIWIKAU website, I'm plucking up courage to ask a few while they're there and won't be able to link me and DS.

I really want to know what we do if results are much better and also much worse

Does anyone know what it means if they are showing a lower grade in clearing than the stated entry requirements. DC has conditional offer at ABB but I have seen it in clearing at BBB for same uni? DD thinks she will not gain ABB as expected so could there possibly be a lower offer or am I imagining it

It means if she gets BBB they'll still take her.

Just to add the wiwikau website has got uni staff answering queries about clearing today and tomorrow.