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Clearing can be a stressful time, no matter why you’re using the service. Whether you missed your grades, did better than expected or changed your mind about the course you want to do, the steps you’ll need to take are quite similar. Our step-by-step guide takes you through the process from start to finish so you know exactly what you need to do.

1. Research Clearing courses

Clearing opens on July 5, so there’s plenty of time to actually start researching before results day if you’re thinking Clearing might be a path for you, but there’s also no need to stress if you haven’t started researching ahead of time. We keep our Clearing course listings as up to date as we can, so at any time you can check what’s available.

By adding your grades or your expected grades to our filter, you’ll be able to see your chance of acceptance to any Clearing course we have listed, making your research process faster and simpler by matching you to suitable courses.

2. Create your shortlist

As you’re doing your research, we recommend registering with Whatuni so you can save all the courses you’ve found to your favourites. This keeps them all in one place, and you can also compare them at a glance.

As you can only add one choice at a time to your UCAS application through Clearing, we recommend narrowing your saved courses to just a handful that you’re going to call. Again, this is something you can do before you receive your results if you like! Courses can be added to Clearing once results are out, so it’s worth doing a quick check once you’ve got your results to see if anything else has become available.

Do some more detailed research into the courses you have selected to make sure they’re a good fit for you to help you narrow down your list.

3. Start calling Clearing hotlines

Once you have your results and a shortlist of the unis you want to call, it’s time to pick up the phone. You’ll notice we have ‘call now’ buttons next to course listings, and you can tap that and get put straight through to the university’s Clearing hotline. You’ll need your UCAS ID, your Clearing number and your personal details to hand such as your grades. You may be asked why you’re applying to that course.

Unis often give you an informal verbal offer over the phone and may also confirm this with a follow-up email. They’ll also usually give you a deadline to accept the offer. Try to make a note of what they say on the phone.

If you hold a confirmed (unconditional) offer on UCAS Hub, you’ll have to self-release yourself into Clearing to get a Clearing number. Once you’ve done this, your confirmed place is gone, so we recommend seeing if you can get a verbal offer without a Clearing number before self-releasing and adding your new course to UCAS.

4. Add your Clearing course to your UCAS Hub

Adding a Clearing course on UCAS Hub is how you accept an informal offer you’ve received. You can only add one at a time, so be certain you’re happy with the course you’re adding. Take your time to think this through, but make sure you add any course to your UCAS Hub before the deadline the university gave you.

Unis are usually able to confirm your Clearing course 24-72 hours after you add it to UCAS Hub. Once they have confirmed your place, you’re all set to start uni!

5. Plan to attend a Clearing open day

Many unis offer Clearing open days in the days immediately after results day so students coming through Clearing have a chance to visit the campus. They’re a little bit different to normal open days as there won’t be as many people attending and you’re at a different point in the application process, so you’ll likely have different questions to ask, but you’ll get opportunities to speak to staff and maybe also students and see the campus and accommodation.

Learn more: What to expect on a Clearing open day.

6. Look for accommodation

Some unis will have space in their accommodation for Clearing students, but not all do, and that’s certainly not your only option. Hopefully you’ve already thought about the type of accommodation that will suit you best, so you can work out what option will be best for you.

Remember, you can opt to live in uni halls, private halls, private student housing, or commute. If there’s no university-owned accommodation available, the uni’s accommodation team should be able to offer support and advice in finding something suitable.

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