Erin's Top Five Tips for Clearing

Stay Calm

Although it is a stressful time, try to stay calm. If you have just received your results or found out that you haven’t gotten into your first choice university or even if you’re doubting your current choice of university, you don’t have to act immediately. Take a minute to think and not act rashly. You may want to have something to eat or drink or take a walk to clear your mind. Although this may seem counterproductive, you don’t need to rush to make a decision that minute. Making the right decision is more important than making a quick decision.

Think about what is important to you

Think about and prioritise what is important to you as an individual. It is likely to be different from other people so the right university for them may not be the right university for you. For example, things that may be important to you in a university could be that it has good sports facilities, teaches a specific course or what the city offers where the university is based. There are so many things that make everyone unique and there is a university that is the right fit for everyone.  

Location, Location, Location

Think about where in the country you want to be. Try to think about what region you would want to be in. Far or close to where you are from? Big city university or a more rural university? Although the university is very important, you will ultimately be living somewhere for the duration of the course so making sure you like the location is really important and sometimes overlooked by people.

Research

Doing research into the university and the Clearing process is hugely important. UCAS give a lot of information about Clearing. Clearing is open from the 5th of July to the 21st of October 2024. Using their website, you can search different courses at different universities. You can also filter courses by start date, course type, location, subject, entry requirements and much more.

After narrowing down what options you are interested in research the course, city, accommodation, activities in the area, transport links and anything else important to you. One of the best places to start is universities’ websites. I would recommend really utilising website features such as the University of Chester’s student blogs and ask a student feature to find out more information from a student’s point of view.

If you are still unsure or have an unanswered question universities often have phone lines for you to call to get more information on the university.

Try to visit

Try to visit the city or university if possible through one of their Clearing Visit Days. Clearing Visit Days are one of the best ways to get a feel of the place and see everything first hard as well as being a great time to get your questions answered.

If you’re not able to visit try to do as much research as possible focusing on things from a student’s point of view. There are also often videos of people visiting cities online which may help you get a feel for the place. These videos can be found by just typing the city name into the YouTube search bar.

Ultimately, we can never see into the future so although it feels like it’s the most important decision in the world, try not to second guess yourself. You are more than capable of getting through Clearing and going on to do great (and fun) things in the future. Good luck!

If you’re considering Clearing, head to the Clearing section on our website, where you’ll find lots of useful information about the process.