STUDY // Let's scrap the stigma on clearing

Hello!

I have a confession to make - I got into my university through clearing.

I hate that students believe that by getting into clearing is a bad thing. Sure, it's a stressful thing, a tearful thing and probably the most traumatic experience of my life but, for me, it wasn't because I saw clearing as a bad thing. I was stressed because my offer got sent to the wrong email and I ended up then calling lots of other universities trying to get offers but, ultimately, I didn't feel like they were the university for me.

Anyway, yes - clearing is stressful but can lead to you going to a better university than you have ever thought. Everyone has reasons for not getting their target grades in their A Levels whether it be pressure, illness or clashing exams (I'm still not over it okay). There's a surprisingly big jump between AS and A2 and so your AS grades may not be representative of your A2 grades. If you are no longer getting those A's and start getting C's all you can do is work - but that isn't always enough for the examining boards who see 75% as a B.

Like written in this Guardian article, clearing has been considered a 'bargain basement' for university places. Generally it was seen that only bad universities had spaces left and it was only really used for desperate students who didn't get their UCAS in on time or failed to reach predicted grades. When it came around to me going into clearing three years ago, people were still telling me 'you can always reapply next year' and asked 'are you sure you'll find a good university?'. As it turns out I did. There were lots of universities to choose from that are top 30 in the UK University rankings. I ended up at a better university than my firm choice and was given a lot more in the way of opportunities that I know I wouldn't have received if I had gone and gotten my grades.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that going into Clearing is not the end of the world. We all know that you can tell what grade you have. As soon as I got out of my final exams, I knew that I got ACC and that is what I recieved. Use the time between now and the opening of clearing on Thursday to do some research on other universities if you know, in your heart, that you did not get your expected grades. I calmly explained my situation to each university and a couple looked at my grades from GCSE onwards and thought I had potential - consequently giving me an offer. Not all universities care about GCSE grades or your extra curricular activities but if you find one that does you may be in with a shot of getting in when you are way below their official grade boundaries. 

Nowadays the news represents clearing as being an event where the universities are in shop windows and the students have the time to pick which university is best for them. Some students are even skipping UCAS altogether and then weighing up their options once they have results and they know who they can apply for. I wouldn't perhaps go that far but I do think clearing needs to be seen as an opportunity to get the best for you and not as a bargain bucket full of open/broken food packets.

I thought I'd give you a few tips to help you or a friend out if they happen to go through clearing. It can be stressful and emotional but as long as you keep calm and remember these tips, you should be okay.

1. Wake up early (but not too early! 7am should suffice), have breakfast/coffee/whatever and wait for grades to be posted on UCAS. This generally happens 2-5 minutes before the expected time and if you're lucky you'll get in before the rush. That way, you can go into your college and sixth form knowing what's going on - whether that be you need to go into clearing or you have your place.

2. Get to your college/sixth form for as early as possible. They give out grades at 8am? Be there! If you haven't got your grades you're going to want to start phoning immediately. A lot of clearing hotlines don't open till 9/10am (or at least didn't for me) but I got in before then for quite a few universities and then I was one of the first they phoned back. The earlier in the morning it is, the more places there are and the more lenient with grades they will be. My offer for UEA got lost and I phoned back and they said to me that I shouldn't have been given an offer with my grades. Turns out they did just lose it and I'm still there on a Masters course (and spent the last year abroad). Oh how things change.

3. Keep calm and get friends to help. All of the universities ask the same questions for the most part. After 2 or 3 calls you'll know exactly what info you need to give out and so can get friends to phone other universities on your behalf. I don't know if that's actually allowed but it got my friend Becky her place at university. She has just graduated with a first so it can work!

Oh, and no-one will understand you if you're crying down the phone. Take 5 minutes to centre yourself and prepare. Once you've started phoning up you'll be too busy to cry.

4. Remember who you have phoned and when. You don't want to shout out that you have an offer at Loughborough when it was actually London Met. Could you imagine how embarrassing that would be to retract? Also, if offers do get lost, you can tell them a time you phoned and they can manually go through offers and eventually they'll find the original paperwork. I had to do that in the end but it was worth it!

5. Stay open minded. Unless you perhaps cannot afford to move away from home, consider it if you haven't already? You were set on another student town? I'm sure there will be another that is just as good. If you want to go to uni, you will. There are plenty of options open to you that don't require university and, whilst that not be Plan A it can easily become Plan B. 

If you are collecting your results later in the week - Good Luck! I'm sure you have done fabulously but just incase, just remember there are other options for you. Feel free to freak out for about 5 minutes or so but calm yourself down and show those universities what you're worth. It'll all work out - I'm certain of it!