How exactly does clearing work?

[Titsywoo]

DD has firmed Cardiff for psychology and if she misses that and her insurance we want to be ready on the day. DH and I didn't go to uni so I have no idea how it works. Anyone able to give me a step by step guide - explain like I am a complete idiot

Clearing lists available courses and entry requirements, so dd rings admissions of any of interest to discuss, gets a provisional offer which can be accepted via ucas. Even if she misses a grade or so the firm or insurance may accept her automatically, or she can ring insurance and ask to be reconsidered if they are in clearing,

On results day go o to Ucas track.

There she will see if she has been accepted by firm
or insurance (even if drop a grade they might accept her)

if neither then she enters clearing.

check vacancies Aim clearing.
phone the one she is interested in. Make sure she has her grades with her.

The uni will accept or not. If accept then she adds it to Ucas. If not she tried another.

She needs to find this out herself I would have known this at 18

She should get her results as soon as she can and then at DD's college they were encouraged to ring straight away. They opened the library up so they could access the computers and use their own phones to call.

Have you never started a thread about something you could find out yourself?

This is a talk forum. It only works if people ask about things.

I dropped a grade and my firm offer still took me, it's worth ringing them on the day just in case

Well aren't you clever.

But obviously not clever enough to read the original post correctly, where there is no mention of the DD wanting to find out how clearing works - just her parents.

UCAS track doesn’t really exist anymore, it is all via her UCAS hub. There is a decent Parents guide and guide to clearing on the UCAS site.

@User56785 no I mean the daughter needs to do this research etc before results day not rely on her mum doing it all for her

For goodness sake, she just wants to understand the process. It's not up to you what other people post. It's completely unnecessary to criticise people for asking questions. It's perfectly normal to what to know about things that affect your children.

@Unexpectedlysinglemum only this week you have asked a question about flooring that you could have researched yourself.

Yes I'm doing my own research on here, my mum isn't doing my research for me! But I will leave this now so op can get advise xx

Dd is looking into it, as am I, so we both understand the process. Just want to be sure neither of us are missing anything. Thanks for your concern.

Thank you for all the constructive replies, they are greatly appreciated!

It can help if parents know what to do in the event their dc gets in a state if their grades aren't as expected or hoped for. It's not hard to imagine that some kids might need support on the day. It makes sense for parents to be prepared.

We hit phones with three of us calling all possible unis interested in. All unis (except weird ones like Oxbridge Imperial etc ) will have a clearing page on their websites and a clear message with phone no to call to check vacancies. From memory UCAS provide a clearing reference no that you give to the unis you are calling.

Some unis take ages to get through to, so you have on repeat dial for what seems like hours. Others answer straight away. Give reference no, grades achieved and check if they would be offered a place. Student to speak themselves to all of them so pass phone to them if get through.

Most that offer place will hold it for a few days whilst you try to sort accommodation, which can be nightmarish dependent on uni as many don’t guarantee it for clearing places and have no halls accom left. Check this with each uni!

Happy to give more info by PM if you like.

Cardiff Psychology seems to take all available bodies since the pandemic. Most universities in that tier do now- and clearing is not what it was.

Likely even if she misses her grades she’ll get an offer. Good luck to you your daughter.

Hi OP agree that she may well get accepted by firm or insurance even if she misses a grade - I have lots of anecdata showing this.

I would say tho, if she doesn't get accepted at her choices, it's not worth calling that uni, as they will have considered her before rejection. Clearing is stressful and you don't want to waste time.

Very much yy to supporting on the day as phone calls can take ages as a pp says. Just have student on hand to talk. With dd, we had a long day that I never want to repeat but in the end she had a firm offer at a great uni, a clearing open day the following day, and a guarantee of uni accommodation.

Good luck to your dd @Titsywoo

Good luck to your daughter - and you. Hopefully you won't need clearing but if you want to have a plan c just in case, your daughter can already search and see what university courses might be available in clearing and note any that look interesting. Universities get the results about a week before they are released to students, so nearer to A level result day universities will know if they have any places for clearing and your daughter can identify ones she will apply for through clearing if she needs to.

On the day itself, if she needs to use clearing, she will need to ring and speak to the universities. You can help by ringing lines ready to pass to her, and by moral support, being a sounding board etc.

Finally, if you use clearing- don't panic and accept anything- there are other options than going straight to university after A levels and when thinking about courses and universities check that there is accommodation available.

As others have said, even if she drops a grade or two, she could still get into Cardiff or her insurance.

If she doesn't, then it may be useful to make a shortlist of unis she'd be interested in offering psychology for grades around BBC or similar. On results day, if she is in clearing, I believe there will still be a clearing number on her application. She should call unis (it probably does need to be her) on their clearing phone number and they will talk through the process with her.

It's a good idea for her to have her UCAS number to hand as well as her clearing number and her grades including GCSEs.

Hopefully, some unis will give her offers, and they will give her a deadline to add these to UCAS (usually about 24 hours) - she shouldn't add an offer until she's as sure as she can be, because I believe it's a faff to change it. She can only add one offer to UCAS but she can receive as many as she likes over the phone.

Good luck to her and hopefully it's not needed.

Some universities will let you create a clearing application in advance, so you just add your results on the day.

Some universities are also operating online clearing so it’s a form or a chat bot rather than calling.

Try to look at clearing vacancies on the Tuesday and create a shortlist.

Top tip, have a notebook ready. Each uni you contact in clearing write the name of the uni at the top of the page. Then scrawl any relevant dates/deadlines/notes on that page.

if students are contacting multiple unis it’s easy to get confused about which one said what!

@Titsywoo your DD may find this useful (well, with any luck, she won't need to find it useful, but just in case...).

https://www.ucas.com/node/375791

Are you on WIWIKAU OP? Lots of clear guides on there

@BoltedSpinach Most universities in that tier do now- and clearing is not what it was. Can you please give me some examples of universities in Cardiff’s tier? I’m not being tricky it’s a genuine question. TIA