How to prepare for Clearing

When I didn’t get the grades for my firm or insurance choice universities, I was gutted and felt like I had no idea what to do. But within 24 hours, I’d found a place at Manchester Met and I have not looked back since.  

I wish I’d had more information about Clearing going into results day, so I hope my advice is helpful for you as you get ready to receive your grades. 

1. Ahead of results day, plan something to look forward to 

Organise in advance to meet up with friends or go out with family, so you have something to look forward to. Even if results day doesn’t go as planned, you’ll still have a good day and it’s important to celebrate getting through the past few years at school or college, because it’s not easy. 

2. Do some Clearing research 

Before results day, have a few universities in mind as possible Clearing options. Look at what grades you need and pick some universities with lower entry requirements than your UCAS choices. 

3. Call your firm and insurance choices 

If you don’t get the results you wanted, always call your firm and insurance choice first just to see if your grades will be able to get you in through Clearing. 

I had a 45 minute phone call with my first choice university – even though my grades wouldn’t allow me on the physical geography course, they were able to offer other courses to me and have a chat about possible options if I were to resit my exams.  

Try not to be too disheartened if they cannot offer you the course you want – there are so many options out there and it will all work out. 

4. Talk through your options 

Some courses will fill up quickly in Clearing, but it’s important not to rush into making a decision. Think about your possible choices and talk to your family and friends about it. If you’re not sure, sleep on it and see how you feel the next morning.  

I had a really good feeling about Manchester Met when I woke up the day after results day. I called up and had a great conversation with one of the geography lecturers, which made me feel so much better about what had happened on results day and like Manchester Met was the university for me.  

I loved how they’d added new state of the art buildings to the university. I really liked how close the university is to the city centre and that most of the buildings and accommodation are close together, maintaining a campus feel within in a city. The courses offered at Manchester Met were varied, with very interesting units to study, and there’s a wide variety of social activities available to students. 

Within a few hours I had accepted their offer. 

5. Be proud of what you’ve achieved 

Remember – there’s no shame in getting into a university through Clearing, it could just turn out to be the best thing you ever did.