What is Clearing?

Clearing matches applicants to university places that are yet to be filled. It is available to anyone who has made a UCAS Undergraduate application and does not hold any offers.

Clearing is for:

Anyone who has not achieved the grades required and who hasn’t been accepted for their first or second choice university
Anyone who has not yet applied for university but wants to enrol on a course in September 2020
Anyone who has not yet received any offers for a place at a university

You can apply for a course using Clearing if you are not already holding an offer from a university or college, and the course still has places.

You can use Clearing if:

you’re applying after 30 June
you didn’t receive any offers (or none you wanted to accept)
you didn’t meet the conditions of your offers
you’ve declined your firm place using the ‘decline my place’ button in Track

If you have achieved better grades than you expected and want to apply for another course and/or university, you can change your choice through Adjustment.

You need to apply directly to the Academy to enrol into our programmes through Clearing. Find out how to become a Clearing Star and receive priority alerts.

How does Clearing work?

Clearing is how universities and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses. It is an ideal way for you to find another course. You find courses (with vacancies) that interest you, and contact universities or colleges directly, to see if they will offer you a place.

You will know you are in Clearing on your UCAS platform, if your Track status says 'You are in Clearing' or 'Clearing has started. Or, you follow the on screen prompts to decline your firm place, and your Track status then says ‘You are in Clearing’ or ‘Clearing has started’.
If Track does not say either of these yet, it might just be waiting for your results to update. Get in touch with the universities/colleges if it is taking a while – they might still be considering you, even if your results are a bit lower than required.
If you originally only applied for one course for the reduced fee of £18, you will have to pay an additional £6 to apply through Clearing. You can do this on your UCAS platform.