Guide to UCAS Clearing 2024

With A-Level Results Day looming, you might be starting to think about what to do if your exam results aren’t quite what you were expecting. Clearing gives you a second chance at finding your ideal course and securing a spot at university.

In this guide to UCAS Clearing 2024, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about the Clearing process, including how to prepare and what to expect on the day.

What is Clearing?

Clearing offers you another chance to secure a place at university, if you do not get the grades you need to meet entry requirements, you did not apply in time, or you want to attend a different university than you originally thought. You can apply for any remaining spots at UK universities through Clearing. 

When is Clearing?

UCAS Clearing 2024 is open from 5 July to 21 October. You can’t apply through Clearing until you have your exam results but as soon as Clearing opens, you can search for available courses. For current A-Level students, this means you won’t be able to apply until Results Day on 15 August. If you already have your grades, for instance if you took a gap year or you are a mature student, and you decide to apply for university year after 30 June, you can apply through Clearing as soon as it opens on 5 July.

Clearing stays open until October but most available courses are filled within a few days of A-Level Results Day, so it’s a good idea to apply quickly if you want to go through the process.

Who can use Clearing?

There are lots of reasons why someone might choose to go through Clearing: You can use UCAS Clearing 2024 if:

• You didn’t get the grades you needed for your firm or insurance choice university
• You didn't receive any university offers
• You got better results than expected and want to decline your firm choice university
• You don't want to accept the university offers you've received
• You're applying after 30 June 2023 for the coming academic year

How do you apply through Clearing?

Assess your situation 

If you have a conditional offer, you should check UCAS Hub as quickly as possible on your exam results day to see if you’ve been accepted into your firm or insurance choice universities. UCAS Hub doesn’t show your grades, it just shows whether you’ve been accepted into university. To find out your grades, you’ll either have to go and collect them in person or they will be emailed to you, depending on your school. 

If you don’t get the grades you need for your conditional offer, you'll be automatically entered into Clearing. Your application status on UCAS Hub will then say 'You are in Clearing' or 'Clearing has started'. If you got the grades you needed but want to decline your firm offer, you can just use the 'decline my place' button on your application and you will then be eligible for Clearing. Make sure that you’re certain you want to decline your offer before you do this.

Search for courses

You can search for available places on courses you’re interested in using the UCAS search tool. 

This will be available as soon as Clearing opens on 5 July so you can prepare in advance if you’re worried about your grades or think you might need to go through Clearing. Shortlist any universities or courses you might be interested in and write down the Clearing hotline numbers, contact details, and any other key information you might need so you'll have it ready on Results Day. 

When applying through Clearing, it’s good to be flexible. While you can look at the course you originally applied for at different universities, you could also consider brand new courses. You might decide you want to consider a different subject or try joint honours. Considering related subjects and topic areas allows you to expand your search, which is great particularly if you're struggling to find relevant courses.

Lots of universities offer the same degree subjects, but this doesn’t mean that the courses will be the same. Often, courses will be structured very differently and may contain very different content. If you’re struggling to find viable options, take a look at similar courses with a different title. You might find that they interest you more than you’d think.

Use Clearing Plus

Clearing Plus is a UCAS tool designed to help you find the right course through Clearing. You’ll be able to access Clearing Plus as soon as you are eligible for Clearing (so as soon as you find out you haven’t met the requirements of your conditional offer or when you opt in to Clearing yourself). Click 'view your matches' in your UCAS Hub to see Clearing Plus.

UCAS assesses your original course and university choices, your grades, and your qualifications. They then match you with relevant courses using data they have from universities about available Clearing courses and entry requirements, and information about previous Clearing candidate behaviour.

If you click 'interested' on any of your matches, the universities will be notified to contact you. As university admissions teams will be busy around Results Day and Clearing places can fill up quickly, it might be a good idea to reach out to the university directly yourself rather than waiting for them to call you.

Contact universities

When applying through Clearing, you will need to ring the universities you’re interested in to see if they have any spare spaces on the course or courses you want to study. Universities in Clearing will have a dedicated Clearing hotline which you can call to speak to a representative from the university. During this call, they will usually decide if they can offer you a place.

Bear in mind that you need to call the universities yourself during Clearing unless you have a reasonable medical reason or extenuating circumstance that prevents you from doing so. 

Once you have a shortlist of universities and courses that you’re interested in, you should start calling them. Have your UCAS ID, grades or UCAS Tariff points, and Clearing number ready. Ideally, you should also look back over your personal statement, the details of the course you’re calling to apply to, and the university as you might be asked about these things in a short phone interview.

What to expect in a Clearing call

Typically, Clearing hotlines will be busiest on A-Level results day on 15 August, as students will be finding out their grades and whether they have got into university. You may have to wait in a queue to get through to each university. This is completely normal so don’t panic. You can use the time to think about what you want to say.

Once you get to the front of the queue, you'll speak to an admissions officer or a course tutor who is dedicated to sorting Clearing issues. Each Clearing call will be different, depending on the university and your specific circumstances. 

Your call might be fairly short, during which the university will check if there are vacancies on the course you want to apply for, assess your grades, and then offer you a place. In other circumstances, you might need to attend a short interview either immediately or in another call later in the day. Be prepared for either.

When going into any Clearing call, be prepared to discuss your individual situation, why you're going through Clearing, and what course you're looking to apply for at the very least. 

If you need more tips and advice on how to prepare for Clearing calls, check out our guide. 

Remember, you can approach multiple universities at a time and receive more than one offer before confirming, so it's a good idea to keep calling around even after you secure your first offer.

If a university gives you a verbal offer, it’s sensible to ask them if they will send written confirmation via email too. In the written offer, they should also outline how long the offer stands for. This provides you with evidence which will help you avoid confusion when entering your choice on UCAS Hub.

Confirm your place

When you apply through Clearing, you can only add one choice on your UCAS Hub. Adding this choice will count as accepting your offer, so before you do this make sure that you are certain your new university has offered you a place and given you permission to enter it to your Hub. You should also make sure you’re entirely certain that you want to go to that particular university and study that particular course!

For whatever reason, if the university doesn't confirm the offer you have entered on your UCAS Hub, then you will then be able to add another one. Bear in mind that you won’t be able to do this until the first university has rejected the offer you entered, which could slow you down. 

Once you have added a choice and the university has confirmed your offer, the course will appear as accepted under the 'Choices' section of your application.

Finding accommodation after applying through Clearing

Once you’ve confirmed your place through Clearing, you’ll need to find somewhere to live in your chosen university city. Finding accommodation after Clearing can be a little more challenging, but you’ll still have plenty of great options even if you’re beginning your search a little later. 

University halls 

If you’re applying for accommodation after Clearing, many of the spaces in halls might already have been filled by students who had the university as their firm or insurance choice. Don’t panic though, this doesn't necessarily mean you will miss out on living in halls. Most universities retain places in halls specifically for Clearing students. 

As soon as your university place is confirmed, go to your university website and see what’s available. You can look at both the accommodation pages and the Clearing pages for advice.

Universities usually allow you to select halls through an online accommodation portal, with rooms typically allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. You'll be asked to add preferences including whether you’d like to live in catered or self-catered halls or whether you want a shared bathroom or an ensuite. The faster you confirm your preferences, the more chance you have of getting the place in halls that you want. Remember that just because you submit preferences, it doesn’t guarantee that you'll get what you want, particularly if you're applying for accommodation after Clearing.

If you're struggling with applying for accommodation on campus, you can speak to your university housing team who can provide assistance.

Private halls

Many students choose to live in private halls. These are student halls that are owned by private companies rather than a university. Private halls allow you to have the same experience of halls, living with flatmates in a shared space. They do tend to be a bit more expensive, but they usually have far more amenities than uni halls. Check you can afford private halls before you commit to anything.

Shared housing

If halls doesn’t feel like the right route for you, you could choose to live in a shared house with other students. This can be far cheaper than living in halls or private halls.

If you choose to go down the shared housing route in your first year but are worried about finding housemates, you can join Facebook groups and online forums to meet people in the same situation. If you speak to your university housing advisors, they may also be able to connect you with other students looking to rent privately. This is a good way to get to know each other before committing to a house share together. 



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