Dispelling the myths about A level results day and Clearing

Isn’t it funny how every year the same myths about A level results day and Clearing appear? We do our best to stamp them out but somehow they still do the rounds. I mean, who exactly is circulating them? And why?

We’ll probably never know, but you can get the truth behind the rumours right here in our dedicated myth-
busting blog post. And after reading it, please help your fellow soon-to-be-students by tweeting, sharing, blogging about and – if necessary – shouting these results day and clearing facts to anyone who’ll listen!

1. TRACK DOES NOT UPDATE AT MIDNIGHT or at any time the night before A level results day. Neither does it show whether you’ve got in to your uni at 06:00, or 07:00. It’s at 08:00 on A level results day. Honest! Here’s the proof.
     
2. YOU WILL NOT SEE YOUR A LEVEL RESULTS IN TRACK. Your school or college will give these to you. We’ve got lots of info on our website to explain exactly what happens to your results, so take a look if you want to know more!
      
3. CLEARING VACANCIES CHANGE ALL THE TIME. That means they can disappear and appear throughout Clearing, as and when places are filled and become available. The universities and colleges update their own vacancies, so as soon as they change the status of one of their courses, this’ll be reflected in the vacancy search.
       
4. UNIVERSITIES CAN’T UPDATE EVERYONE’S APPLICATION AT THE SAME TIME. Although I’m sure they wish they could, and have all their applicants’ offers changed to the correct status in an instant, it just doesn’t work like that. Some offers will change later than others. So the moral of the story is, if you get the grades you need and your offer hasn’t changed to unconditional, don’t worry about calling UCAS or the uni straight away. Chances are your offer will update during the day. In some instances you might need to contact the uni though – you can find out more on our “Still waiting?” page.
     
5. YOU CAN APPLY FOR ANY COURSES YOU’RE INTERESTED IN IF YOU’RE IN CLEARING. Even if you originally applied for marine biology and you’ve now realised that food science is your calling, there’s nothing to stop you contacting unis to ask for a place on their course. There’s no guarantee they’ll consider you, but you can most definitely ask. Don’t ask, don’t get.
       
6. YOUR CLEARING NUMBER WILL APPEAR IN TRACK AS SOON AS YOU’RE IN CLEARING. And not before. If you’re not in Clearing there’s no point calling UCAS to ask for a Clearing number – this is only generated once you’re not holding any offers, and as soon as we’ve got it, you’ll have it!
     
7. YOU’RE ONLY ELIGIBLE FOR CLEARING IF YOU HAVE NO OFFERS. If you’ve been accepted by your firm or insurance choice, this doesn’t mean you can go ahead and use Clearing. In some situations you may be able to, but this requires a conversation with the uni you’re placed with to ask if you can let go of their offer to use Clearing instead. This video FAQ explains.
     
8. YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT. If you’re applying for courses in Clearing that are different to your original choices, and the unis would like you to write a new statement, then you’d need to send them a copy directly.
     
9. CLEARING IS NOT JUST FOR PEOPLE WITH LOW EXAM RESULTS. There are lots of reasons why people use Clearing - some will have declined all their offers, others might not have received any offers in the first place, perhaps if they applied for particularly competitive courses, and some apply after 30 June and automatically enter Clearing.
    
                                   


10. THERE ARE GOOD COURSES IN CLEARING. Let’s get this straight; absolutely any course can enter Clearing if the uni has places they want to fill. Even some of the most popular subjects can be found in the Clearing vacancy search, so don’t write off Clearing because you don’t think you’ll find what you’re looking for.

UCAS Track - update

You may be aware that Track has been unavailable since last night. Here’s an update on the situation from Philip Blaker, our Head of Admissions Services: 

“Engineers are currently working to fix the technical issue we’ve encountered, however we expect that Track will be unavailable for the rest of the day.

Please be assured that if you have a reply deadline of 6 June, you will be able to accept your offers once the technical issue has been resolved.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you.”

We’ll continue to update you on the situation on our website and through our social media channels – that’s @ucas_online on Twitter and www.facebook.com/ucasonline.

   

Why can't I see any change to Track?

Have you had an email telling you Track has changed? Have you logged onto Track but can't see any changes? 

If so, it'd be best to check the choice again! A change to the status doesn't necessarily mean a decision has been made. There could have also been a change to the campus code, course code, the start date, point of entry or conditions for example. 

10 signs that your UCAS application may have taken over your life

10 signs that your UCAS application may have taken over your life:

1. The UCAS website now shows as one of your most visited sites

2. You've memorised your personal ID number

3. Having filled out details of your school attendance in your application, you now know ‘sandwich’ doesn't necessarily refer to a bread-based snack

4. You've sat down and worked out how many tweets it would take to write a personal statement of 4000 characters (28.57 if you’re wondering!)

5. You've developed a sudden interest in undertaking voluntary work

6. You've started doing a lot more washing up, vacuuming, general tidying ANYTHING other than having to start the personal statement

7. The word ‘track’ will immediately remind you of your UCAS application. All other possible definitions have now lost meaning

8. Every time you get an email, you think it’s a UCAS Track update

9. You’re following @ucas_online on Twitter

10. You see posts like this in your Facebook feed!

Your questions about Clearing answered!

The Contact Centre at UCAS

Being the seasoned Clearing veterans that we are on the social media team, we've put together some answers to the questions that get asked a lot each year and which will most definitely be being asked right now.

Take a look over them and if your question isn't answered, don't forget we're all only a few keystrokes away on Facebook and Twitter to help you out! You can also get comprehensive information in the Clearing section of our website.

Why doesn't the 'Add Clearing choice' button work on Track?
It will usually be for one of the following reasons:

• You've already got a confirmed place with a university. If that's the case, you’ll need to ask them whether they’d be willing to allow you into Clearing. Any decision to do so would be at their discretion. If they allow you into Clearing, you’ll then be able to add a choice on Track. If allowed into Clearing, Track will usually update immediately with their decision. However, if they're using their own internal systems there can sometimes be a delay of up to 24 hours before it appears on Track

• You've been unsuccessful with one of your original choices but they've given you a 'changed course' offer rather than saying you're unsuccessful. In this instance, you’ll need to make the appropriate reply before being allowed into Clearing.  As your reply depends on the status of your application, it’d be best to check our guidance on replying to changed course offers. 

• You've already added a Clearing choice. If you've done this and don’t want that choice any longer, you’ll need to contact the university to ask if they can put you back into Clearing.

Where can I find my Clearing number?

You'll only see a Clearing number if you're eligible for Clearing. This can be found on the Welcome page and Choices page in Track. However, if you've already added a Clearing choice, the number will be removed. 

What's a changed course offer? 

This will appear as 'UCC' on Track. This means that you haven’t been successful for your original course choice but that the university are making you an alternative offer.  This could be an offer for a different course or it could be a change to the start date or point of entry. Once we’ve had decisions from both your firm and insurance choice, you’d then have five days in which to reply. As your response depends on the status of your application, it’d be best to check our guidance on replying to changed course offers.

Why hasn't Track changed? It still shows I have a conditional offer!

This will usually mean that the university hasn’t yet made a decision.  If you’ve narrowly missed meeting the conditions of the offer, they may be waiting to see what the general trend is with the rest of their applicants before deciding. If a significant amount failed to meet the conditions they may then offer places to those who were just below getting the required grades. You may also want to check that the university has definitely received your results and that there are no other conditions that you need to meet - for example, a GCSE result which won't be available until the Thursday after A Level results day. Also bear in mind that if universities are using their own internal systems there may be a delay to decisions appearing on Track. *UPDATE: On 16 August the systems were running slower than usual at certain points which will have caused a delay to some decisions being made*

I don't want my university place any more. Can I go into Clearing?
Whether you've been accepted at your original firm choice or been accepted by your insurance choice, you need to ask the university if they’d be willing to allow you into Clearing. As you’ve got a confirmed place with them you’d be expected to go there, in much the same way that they’d be expected to honour their agreement in giving you the place. Any decision to allow you into Clearing would be at their discretion and they’d be under no obligation to do this.

I've got into my firm choice but I want my insurance choice instead. Can I do that?
When your place was confirmed at the firm choice, the insurance choice would've been made aware of this. Therefore, they'd no longer be expected to hold a place for you. If you want to go to the insurance choice, you'll need to call them to ask if there's still a vacancy and whether they'd be willing to offer you it through Clearing. If they can, you'll then need to ask the firm choice whether they'd be happy to allow you into Clearing. This would be at their discretion and they’d be under no obligation to do it.

If that all gets agreed and processed, you'll then be able to add them as a Clearing choice on Track.

How do I reply to a Clearing offer?
You wouldn’t need to reply to a Clearing offer. If a university has provisionally offered you a place which you want to accept, you’ll need to go to the ‘Choices’ section of Track, click on the 'Add Clearing choice' button and the enter the details of your course. It’ll then be up to the university to confirm your place on Track. When they've confirmed your place it will say 'Clearing Accept' next to the choice.

I got better results than expected. Can I use Adjustment?

To be eligible to use Adjustment:

• your results must have met and exceeded the conditions of your conditional firm (CF) choice;

and

• you need to have paid the full application fee (£22 for 2012).

If you have paid the single application fee (£11 for 2012) and want to use Adjustment, you need to pay an additional £11.

You are not eligible to use Adjustment if:

• you are confirmed (UF) at your firm choice but did not exceed the conditions of the offer
• you have a confirmed place on a changed course offer

your original offer was unconditional.

Why am I unable to register for Adjustment?
The option to register will be displayed on Track for all applicants whose firm choice has gone from being 'conditional firm' to 'unconditional firm'. However, it is then up to the universities you contact to make sure you're eligible to use Adjustment. In order to be eligible, you need to have met and exceeded the conditions of your original firm choice's offer. So you'd need to make sure you meet this requirement.

Also, Adjustment is available from 16 August until 31 August, with your individual Adjustment period beginning on 16 August or when your conditional firm choice changes to unconditional (whichever is later). So you need to make sure you're trying to register within that date range.

You should visit our website for full details of how Adjustment works.

5 things you need to know about A Level results day!

As you can imagine there are lots of questions and comments flying around right now about A level results day and Clearing.We'll be sending out advice based on your queries in the run-up to results day, as indeed we've done for the past few weeks. We've also got a handy video to help you prepare for getting those all-important grades. However, many students often have concerns and expectations that go unnoticed because they never ask us a question about them. Fortunately we're a vigilant lot, so with all this in mind, here are 5 things you need to know about A Level results day!

1. Track doesn't go live at midnight! It'll start updating at 08:00 (UK time) on 15 August. So from that time you'll be able to check the decisions made by your university choices.

2.  The vast majority of universities will update their decisions on Track on results day... but not all of them will. We've got lots of information about this on our 'Still Waiting' page, but in a nutshell it'll usually be for one of the following reasons:

• You've narrowly missed meeting the conditions of the offer and the university are still giving your application consideration. They'll usually wait to see how other applicants for the course have done and then make a decision then.
• They've not got your exam results. If their conditions included a qualification for which we don't pass on the results then they'll need you to send them the results. Details of exam results we handle can be found here
• If you've been asked to achieve a certain grade in a GCSE, the university won't be able to confirm your place until the results for those are out on 23 August. You'd need to pass the results to them.

3. Track has had some BIG improvements since last year. All of our technology has been through thorough testing to make sure that all our attention can be focused on helping students through the Clearing process on results day.

4. We'll be sending emails to you to let you know the universities' decisions.These won't be the standard Track updates you usually get telling you that there's been a change to the status. These emails will be telling you whether or not you've got into your chosen university. 

5. You won't be able to add a Clearing choice until the afternoon on 15 August. This gives you time to research your options and make informed decisions before potentially adding a choice. Check our Clearing guidance for what to do if you're using Clearing.

Emails we'll send you on A Level results day and beyond!

There's been quite a lot of interest in the fact that this year we'll be emailing students with news on whether or not they've got into their chosen university or college. However, in almost equal measure, there's been confusion as to when we'll send them and who we'll send them to! Hopefully this will clear things up a bit:

When will the email be sent?

Emails were sent out on 7 August for anyone whose university place had been confirmed between 1-7 August. As Scottish exam results were published on 7 August, the emails were mainly sent to Scottish students although some BTEC students also got an email.

No further emails will be sent now until 16 August when A Level results are published. They'll then be sent at regular intervals every day up until 31 August. 

Who will get sent an email?
You'd be sent an email if:

• you've been accepted by either your firm or insurance choice university on Track
• you're eligible for Clearing because you've not been successful in meeting the conditions of your firm and/or insurance choice university

What does it mean if I don't receive an email?

Try not to worry as not everyone is going to be sent one. You won't be sent an email if:

• Your place was already unconditional
• Your chosen university hasn't yet made a decision
• Your chosen university are making you an offer on a different course or different start date

If in doubt about the status of your application, remember you can check Track for the latest updates!