Prepare yourself for Clearing

The day I received my A Level results...

I opened the UCAS website and realised I was declined by my first choice of university and my insurance choice sent an offer to do a foundation year before beginning the course I chose (Business and Management BSc). At this point, I was confused as I knew I wanted to do a placement year but did not want to do both a placement and foundation year, I didn’t want to go to university for 5 years!

I arrived at my Sixth Form, opened my results and saw that I didn’t receive the results I expected. After the confusion and shock settled in, I began to call up universities to ask about their Clearing options. There was no preparation involved. I heard about Brunel through my friends and family and knew little information about the other universities near my area.

My teachers had mentioned Clearing was an option, but I didn’t know much about it.

How did the calls go?

Once I called Brunel’s Clearing hotline, I was connected to a lady who requested my UCAS ID, name and grades. I mentioned I would like to study Business and Management and she instantly informed me that I could apply through Clearing at Brunel. The morning started with low grades and the afternoon ended with me being accepted into Brunel. All I had to do was accept the offer on UCAS and then attend the open day the next day to look at accommodation choices.

Once I started the course in September, I met so many students who went through Clearing, I was shocked at how many didn’t just come because of low grades. They applied because they decided not to accept their offers or that they did not want to apply for university until results day arrived.

Many students even completely changed the type of course they wanted to study and had to apply through Clearing. Clearing was in fact, not just for students who didn’t get into their chosen universities, it was for the students who had a change of heart.

Do I regret my decision?

I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and I don’t regret choosing Brunel. I don’t regret calling Brunel on results day and I don’t regret going into Clearing.

It was a decision that changed the route I was planning on taking and it resulted with me carrying out my year in industry in Brunel’s Marketing department. I graduated two weeks ago and am so happy with the time I’ve had at Brunel, the university which accepted me into Clearing. It was a process I did not give a second thought to. It was a process I did not expect to have needed to go through. I’m here to tell you, that Clearing isn’t something you should be afraid of. It’s not something that you should stay away from.

I would say, don’t come to results day unprepared – like I did. Come to results day confident that no matter what you see on the UCAS website, no matter what you see on your grade sheet, that you know you have investigated your options, and that you have a plan B.

Advice you should probably listen to...

• Look at the Clearing courses universities have to offer.
• Speak to your teachers and ask for advice – my business teacher gave me so much advice.
• Remember, there is no harm at looking at your options before results day.

Feel free to start a chat with our Unibuddies who went through Clearing.