Today, hundreds of thousands of students up and down the country will receive their A Level results after sitting their exams back in May. For most, they will achieve a position at university to continue their further education, but for some, the story will be slightly different.
Both UCAS and Institutions use a process called “clearing” to fill places on their courses that remain vacant after results day. This offers students an opportunity to pursue their dreams, even though they may have initially missed out.
What is UCAS Clearing?
Clearing matches applicants to university places that are yet to be filled, it's available to anyone who has made a UCAS Undergraduate application and doesn't hold any offers.
Clearing also allows people who have better grades than expected to explore other options into more universities.
We reached out to the community to find American Football players who had benefited from clearing when they applied for university and got their experiences of the process.
University of Bradford Student, Joel Fletcher, had this is say; “Overall it was pretty easy."
“I applied directly to Bradford rather than use UCAS. I also applied in July as soon as clearing opened."
Clearing allows more people to access the sport of American Football, Joel, didn’t know about the Bradford Bears until his flatmate told him about the team. After attending training sessions and joining the team, he started five of the six games for the University of Bradford, without clearing he probably wouldn’t have picked up the sport at all.
“Without the use of Clearing, I would not have met the people I now call teammates.”
Another beneficiary of the process is Ben Gardiner from the NTU Renegades, he said “I never wanted to go to university.”
“After 3 weeks of seeing my friends enjoying uni life, I called NTU and asked if I could join the Music Performance course through clearing, they accepted me, and I had my place deferred a year so I could work and save up before going."
“I went to both taster sessions for American football and the coaches were a lot more welcoming and encouraging than the rugby teams, so I stuck with that. I’ve fallen in love with the game and the team, I couldn’t be happier with where I am in life currently. The team itself is amazing and I think that American football is a space where anyone is welcome.”
Clearing is great for BUCs teams across the UK as it allows Universities to recruit a larger pool of players.
Clearing gives students opportunities not only to access high-quality education but also the chance to access clubs and teams they will be a part of through their university life.
Clearing is open now and will close on the 21st of October 2024, more info on Clearing can be found in the UCAS website, https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearingor by visiting any further education institution website.
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