Clearing: What you need to know

What is 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. Running from 5 July to mid-September, you’ll be eligible for Clearing if:

• you apply after 30 June
• you are not holding any offers from universities or colleges you’ve applied to
• your place is not confirmed after exam results are published

Last year, thousands of places were available through Clearing, such as English and law, with over 64,300 applicants obtaining places.

Courses in Clearing aren’t just the ones nobody wants – there are many reasons why courses are still available. It’s an opportunity for those who have missed their conditions, or had a last minute change of heart about the university or course they want to study.

How do you use Clearing?
Well, the first place to start is to search for vacancies in our search tool. You need to select your location along with the ‘Clearing 2016’ tab before searching for vacancies.

After you’ve found the course you’re interested in, give the uni a call to make sure you meet the entry requirements and they still have vacancies. If they offer you a place and you want to accept it, add the Clearing choice in Track. When you sign in, if you’re eligible for Clearing, in the ‘Next Steps’ section you’ll be given an option to ‘Add a Clearing choice.’

You can apply for one choice at a time through Clearing. Once a choice has been selected, you cannot add another, unless you’ve been unsuccessful with the first one. If you want to apply elsewhere once you’ve added a choice, then you need to ask that uni to cancel your place so you’re able to apply again through Clearing.

If you only applied for one choice in your original application you’ll need to pay an additional £11 to go through Clearing.

Have any questions about Clearing? Have a look at our website or get in touch with our advisers on Facebook or Twitter.  You can also check out our video guides to Clearing.

Euro 2016

With Euro 2016 just around the corner, we’ve taken a quick look at how many applicants from each participating country applied to study in the UK last year, with some interesting facts from each. So as the teams prepare to kick off, check out your country’s result!

Group A
France – 20,790 applicants – France has the highest number of accepts from outside the UK.
Romania – 16,130 applicants – Romania has the highest number of applications to computer sciences outside the UK.
Albania – 390 applicants – Business studies is the most popular course applied to from Albania.
Switzerland – 5,590 applicants – 86% of Swiss applicants are to English providers.











Group B
England – 1,987,780 applicants – 15% of English applications are to medicine courses.
Russia – 6,025 applicants – 32% of applicants are to business and administrative studies.
Wales – 95,720 applicants – 16.3% of Welsh applications are to medicine courses.
Slovakia – 2,600 applicants – 34% of Slovakian application are to Scottish providers.










Group C
Germany – 13,700 applicants – Germany has the highest number of biological sciences outside the UK.
Ukraine – 1,265 applicants – 5% of Ukrainian applications are made by those 21 and over.
Poland – 12,775 applicants – Outside the UK, Poland has the highest number of applications to Welsh unis.
Northern Ireland – 93,720 applicants – 61% of Northern Irish applications are made by 18 year olds. The highest of all countries listed.










Group D
Spain – 13,115 applicants – Outside of the UK, Spain has the highest number of applications to engineering courses.
Czech Republic – 3,665 applicants – 51% of application are made by 19 year olds. The highest of all countries listed.
Turkey – 2,725 applicants – Business studies is the most popular course applied to from Turkey.
Croatia – 1,220 applicants – 62% of application from Croatia were from females.










Group E
Belgium – 4,950 applicants – 89% of Belgian applications were made by those under the age of 20.
Italy – 20,810 applicants – Outside the UK, Italy has the highest total number of applications.
Republic of Ireland – 23,250 applicants – The highest percentage of application from females at 72%!
Sweden – 6,125 applicants – 38% of applications from Sweden are for Scottish providers. The highest percentage outside of Scotland.










Group F
Portugal – 4,460 applicants – The most popular course applied to from Portugal is creative arts and design.
Iceland – 175 applicants – Iceland is the only country where more applications were made by men than women.
Austria – 2,710 applicants – 25% of Austrian applications are to Scottish providers.
Hungary – 3,610 applicants – 35% of Hungarian applications are made by mature students.










Want to apply to university in this year? You have until 18:00 (UK time) on 30 June to send us an application with five choices. If you apply after 30 June you’ll be entered in to Clearing. Check out all the advice on ucas.com or ask our advisers on Facebook or Twitter.