The clearing process offers university applicants the chance to get onto courses that have spaces left.
UCAS has said that clearing is open from July 5 to October 21 for 2024 and has listed the requirements needed for the application.
More than 50,000 students find their places through clearing every year, and plenty more choose apprenticeships, internships, gap years, or employment.
The majority of people using the process will do so after receiving A-level results, which will be released on Thursday, August 15.
Here is your guide to clearing and the process.
What is clearing?
Clearing is a UCAS service that helps universities and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses.
Most of the time, institutions do this by finding students who have decided to go to uni after the application deadline, or students who have not received the results they needed to get onto their first-choice course and are looking for alternative courses or universities.
UCAS said: “Missing out on your first choice is always difficult, but that doesn’t mean you’ve run out of options – far from it. In fact, it’s an opportunity for you to start again.”
You can use clearing if:
- You’re applying after June 30
- 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 your application
What can you do?
From July 5, anyone interested in clearing can check the UCAS listing of available courses, contact the choices directly, and add your clearing choice to your application.
UCAS says: “Making another set of new choices can be overwhelming, exciting, and confusing all at once. The most important thing is that you don’t make snap decisions.
“Take your time, there are plenty of options left, and lots of people on hand to offer advice.”
What is Clearing Plus?
Clearing Plus matches students with courses that UCAS thinks they may be interested in, based on their application. When they start a new application, a button will appear called “My matches” that will show students their top 50 course matches.
Students will then be able to tell universities that they’re interested in the courses and, if they have space, the universities may call the students to offer them places.
Which universities take part in clearing?
More than 30,000 courses take part in clearing and this list is updated regularly up to mid-September. It’s important to note some universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, do not take part in the clearing process.
