DC struggling to see the point of holding an insurance offer when clearing seems a much better deal!

[Alongthetowpath]

DC is year 13, currently working on UCAS application.
Has identified 5 courses, one stretch, three realistic, one low entry requirements.

All seems good, but when we have been looking into the unis, several of them appear to prioritise clearing applicants over insurance for accommodation.

So choosing an insurance place seems to put you in a worse position.

I get that for competitive courses which seldom go into clearing, you are effectively “reserving” a spot. But we had a look in August at DC’s course choices (and a fair few others that were on the shortlist then) - all available in clearing.

Presumably you can’t put somewhere down as your insurance, get a place, reject it and then reapply in clearing to get guaranteed accommodation!

Has anyone been through clearing? How much of a bunfight is it? Does it actually make sense to plan to go through clearing rather than have an insurance offer?

I did clearing with DD in 2019. It was a very tough day, tho if we had been better prepared (her grades were a shock) it would have been more manageable.

I would avoid it if at all possible tbh. DD's uni guaranteed accommodation for clearing places but there was a very limited choice fwiw.

I think it's a very good idea to look at accommodation when applying to see what sort of ££ you'll pay and how likely you are to get your choice.

Some unis prioritise insurance offers for accomm over clearing offers, some the other way round. I infer that your DC has chosen ones that do the latter? Has the application gone in or is there time to switch the insurance for one that guarantees insurance accomm? This is assuming there were a few other unis they liked obvs.

Also - clearing last year is no guide to clearing this year.
DD's course in 2019 - offered at BCC; in 2020 - offered at CCD
Same course at another uni in 2019 – BBB; in 2021 at that uni - nothing in clearing at all.

(I appreciate that some of those years we odd bc Covid btw)

Waiting for clearing is a risk though. While there have been more and more courses in clearing in the last few years there is no guarantee that a course will be in clearing in 2026. The sector is so volatile at the moment.
Holding an insurance choice is a much safer (and less stressful) option.

Clearing so stressful I would avoid. Having said that if the grades aren’t up to either firm or insurance there are opportunities to secure places. Look on it as the third option rather than second option. Clearing opens quite early so have plans on who to contact. My Yp’s have both ended in clearing and managed to get onto good courses. Quite resilient though and don’t mind picking up the phone and persuading unis to take them on even though their grades weren’t what they needed.

Ok, sounds like clearing is to be avoided if possible 😂 so maybe Dc needs to swap in a different option for a potential insurance place (form hasn’t been finalised yet), then have plan B on the day to have a look at clearing, but hopefully with the insurance already in the bag.

Or risk choosing a place they like more for insurance, but then potentially having a stressful time sourcing (costly?) accommodation.

Agree it's a good third option. With regard to that last point (tho I agree resilient YP is a good thing) in our experience there was no leeway on the phones – they will be staffed by people who don't have discretion and when (for example) we called a BBC clearing offer with BCC they said sorry, no, and no we don't have the authority to negotiate. I guess it might vary.

Also people often post when someone has missed their grades “oooh ring them up and plead” and IME there is no point doing that. If they wanted you (talking about firm and insurance here) they haev discretion to take you with dropped grades.

ETA @Alongthetowpath meant to add, IME wherever you end up is good (if it's going to be good). Someone I know when to their insurance but didn't enjoy it – just uni was not for them IYSWIM. Other YP I know have gone to a second or third choice and had a great time. If you loved Leeds and Manchester, Sheffield or Nottingham will also be great. But I do think the accommodation is a relevant factor – as the loan has barely gone up and neither has the HH income threshold, and yet CoL and rents have risen hugely. Being able to pay your rent is a big plus IME.

Clearing is incredibly stressful. And I was prepared (I didn't want to worry DC but I was like ready with a list, even so stressful).

BUT, DC got a really good offer and actually on a course with higher entry grades than their insurance choice (which they missed too).

We'd kept an eye on clearing offers 2 years prior and there were the same courses in clearing this year, probably more.

In the end, their uni prioritised clearing candidates so they got what they wanted re accommodation (apart from sharing WC/shower instead of en suite). Very happy!

Lots of the clearing offers for certain unis and courses stayed open for a good, few days. Even ones that stipulated a deadline we managed to email and delay for a few more days (4 in total).

But, yeah, the clearing morning felt like it went on forever.

@clary

Yes, agree that the unis declining won’t change their mind. It is possible to move past the call handlers to the tutors though and a bit like cold calling, for the YP to carry on until someone says yes!

What are the 5 choices at the moment?
York changed their policy from only guaranteeing rooms to firm acceptances and extended that to insurance (not sure about clearing)
but my DD is there now and said that in her college there are quite a few who got in thru clearing (lots of different courses) and ended up in her college because the rooms were most expensive and the ones still with spaces.

Thank you @GirtyPlunder, we did look at York, but it would definitely be an aspirational rather than insurance choice as entrance requirements are a bit too high for DC.

UEA, Reading and Bangor are the ones in DC list that seem to guarantee to clearing but not insurance applicants once you drill down into the detail - Bangor are particularly disingenuous about it on their website, I feel.

I agree that for most, Clearing is stressful. Part of that is that most aren’t as prepared as they could be for it.
Having understood the timings and need to have actual grades at 8am and a list of courses with places in Clearing (gathered the night before or early that morning) and a fully charged phone and open mind to going somewhere else and risks re accommodation, makes it much smoother. Having parents who understand it all and who have prepped and are available to help for at least 2 days and who can be calm through it and know it’s an opportunity rather than disaster can make a big difference.

But at most v good places there can then be weeks of uncertainty about accommodation. Yes that can be case for insurance students too and actually even for firm students.

I’d agree it’s a good 3rd option. And on the day it might be better than the insurance option, but having the insurance option is a good safety net. Those who are happy to just put a firm choice and otherwise face Clearing may well be of the mindset to cope better with Clearing’s uncertainties. They might also be the type who might be risk takers and perhaps less prone to consistent hard work and risk missing grades???? Hard to tell. Nothing lost by having an insurance offer though, so def put one.

Having understood the timings and need to have actual grades at 8am and a list of courses with places in Clearing (gathered the night before or early that morning) and a fully charged phone and open mind to going somewhere else and risks re accommodation, makes it much smoother. Having parents who understand it all and who have prepped and are available to help for at least 2 days and who can be calm through it and know it’s an opportunity rather than disaster can make a big difference.*

Great post @WombatChocolate

Having read posts on here and elsewhere about clearing, we were those parents. School had said to all kids to bring their phones and laptops but we also brought along ipads and our own charged phones. We hit the phones at 8:05. Adrenaline kicked in but we remained calm. Worth asking student to tick the box on UCAS which allows you to speak on their behalf. It's still the case that you still pass the phone on to the student but it was great that 3 of us could call/contact. Bear in mind, some unis don't answer readily by phone so be prepared to use laptop/ipad to submit application online. I'd still follow up those but for the 2 our DC contacted, they came back with offers quickly. They had 5 clearing offers by 9:00. Still, felt slightly shell shocked after. DC and I went to an insurance/clearing open day the next day. They are now very, very happy at the clearing choice uni (ranked in the top 15).

I would definitely put UEA and Reading ahead of Bangor anyway, just for general quality of teaching / quality of life. Bangor is a bit remote and a bit depressing. I know UEA isn't in the center of Norwich but its a great campus and easy to get in and out of town (buses / bikes / grants for bikes even!)

While no course is guaranteed to be in clearing there seems very little reason to think the same unis won't be offering similar places to next year - while the situation in USA is encouraging unis to think there might be an uptick in international students the financial situation and the need to fill courses is unlikely to be that much different.

So UEA, Reading and Bangor are almost certain to be in clearing in 2026 and if they're not offering any benefit in terms of accomodation there may not be much point in putting them as an insurance choice.

We had this discussion last year and for students predicted around BBC/BCC who aren't wanting to do a specialist course I really wonder whether it's even worth the bother of making an application pre-Clearing. Most unis who are going to be making clearing offers at this level will release the grades a couple of days before so an intense prep day before Results morning should get you a go to list for 8 am.

He could putting the insurance and reject it if he gets a better offer.

If an applicant bets on Clearing, they are at the mercy of what's available. If the applicant accepts a Firm, and an Insurance offer, that is a kind of contract with those universities that they will honour the offer, if their conditions are met.

Great advice above, OP.

Just to add: we didn’t need clearing in the end but, thanks to lots of informative MN posts, I became aware that clearing opens in early July so you can start getting an idea of which unis and what courses might be in there and at what grades. Some unis have only partial information or nothing posted until closer to results day but allow interested students to sign up for updates.

The amount of information increases the nearer you get to results day (also bearing in mind that the institutions get the results about 1 week before the students do). You can start noting down course references, phone numbers, emails etc so you can get cracking quickly on results day if need be.

DD and i both researched separately and, by the day before results came out, she had a list of clearing targets to contact in case of need. As mentioned, she didn’t need it in the end but it was reassuring to see just how many great options were available if needed. So i agree with PP: a great 3rd option.

When my ds was applying for 2022 entry, his insurance choice was AAB. In clearing they were asking for AAA. Obviously this was a tough year as many had deferred during COVID and the demand was high.

Thanks for all the helpful posts.

DC and I have had a chat, and I think the current plan is to -

keep UEA and Reading on the ucas application, as they might well end up being a firm choice, but don’t consider them as insurance.

Swap Bangor out for Lincoln, (and assume from the get-go that will be the insurance choice).

Prepare for clearing before the day and be ready to go with a clear plan early on the day itself.

@Alongthetowpath - sounds like a very solid plan. Exciting times! Best of luck to your DS for yr 13.

We did clearing this year, but ds had had a gap year so there were no results to wait for. I have to say, with preparation, it was very straightforward. We had a list of possible unis and courses and we double checked them on the morning.

We hit the phones at 8 and were done by 10, with 5 decent offers.

A few things to note:

1. there isn't really an option of 'persuading someone on the phone'. They ask for your grades and it's either a yes or no with no flex - for ds, having a 6 in GCSE Maths rather than a 7 was the obstacle for some courses, even though he had the A Level results/exceeded them
2. You collect your written offers, but you then have to apply to the unis officially through UCAS, by a certain date - and this date varies by uni. So for example, ds was trying to decide between Nottingham and Southampton and would have liked to go to the special offer holders day at Soton on the Sat, before their 6pm Sunday deadline. However, Nottingham's offer expired at 6pm on the Friday! He went with Nottingham as he'd already visited...
3. Ds avoided the whole accommodation lottery by signing up for a private hall, which was cheaper than the uni accomm and has worked well.