Clearing opens on 2 July and runs until 19 October, giving students a set window to find a place after A Level results day on Thursday 13 August. It is the route universities and colleges use to fill places still available on courses, and it can also let students change course or place of study.
Clementine Wade on choices
Clementine Wade, an education consultant and content creator, said students should write down possible results before results day and match each one to an alternative. Her examples were direct: “I get AAA, then I could do physics at Sussex” and “CCD could be physics at Nottingham Trent”.
That approach turns results day into a decision tree. If the grades match the offer, the student can move forward with the original plan. If they do not, the same list gives a quicker way to compare another course or place without starting from zero.
Sussex and insurance choice
Students can use clearing if they did not receive any offers, did not want to accept the offers they received, did not meet the conditions on those offers, or used the decline my place button to turn down a firm place. They can also use it if they are not already holding any offer from a university or college and the course still has places, or if they have done better than expected and want to go to a different university.
The practical complication is the insurance choice. A student may want to go there instead of their firm choice, but still has to check in clearing whether that insurance choice will accept them. That means the next move is not just deciding between two options, but checking whether the backup place is actually available.
For students waiting on results, the useful step now is simple: write down the grades they might get, the course they would want in each case, and the alternative if the first choice does not work. Clearing already has dates attached to it, and the choice a student makes on 13 August can depend on what is still open that day.
