The first thing students will always hear when going into Clearing is "Don't Panic."

Quite often you don’t need to panic, but it important to understand the clearing process beforehand!

Clearing is the last opportunity for students to find an appropriate higher education course before the new academic year if they haven't got the right grades or because they're a late applicant (ie applied after the 30th June).

If you have just missed the grades required by the university you want to attend, you may not have to go through Clearing. You should contact the university immediately to see if they are still happy to accept you. You may be pleasantly surprised! If not you should try your insurance choice.

How do you enter Clearing?
Students are eligible if they hold no offers and are still in the UCAS scheme, or if they decline or have not replied to a confirmed offer.

UCAS will automatically send you a Clearing Entry Form (CEF) if you are eligible to enter the system. There will also be an instruction leaflet enclosed.

It is very important that you are available when your results are published because you will need to start contacting institutions about possible vacancies on their courses.

How will they know which courses are available?
Courses with vacancies are published in The Independent, The Mirror, on BBC2 Ceefax and through the UCAS website

There is also the UCAS helpline that will be available during the clearing period - Tel: 01242 227788.

Course vacancy information will be available from the middle of August until late September.

What happens next?
The key message is not to get stressed out: we've been there; we know it is hard and so we have put together some guidelines that should set you on the right track.

You have received their CEF and now have a list of course vacancies.

Make a list of the courses and institutions that interest you.

Find out more about them by looking through the prospectuses or the institution's website.Do this very carefully, some courses also sound fairly similar, but they're not.

Then quickly contact the institution's admissions tutor for the course that you are interested in. Make sure you’ve made some notes about why you want to study that subject/course, as you may be asked a few questions!

Make sure you always have on hand your exam results, UCAS application number and the CEF number.

If the university is interested they will ask for your CEF form. Make sure you are happy with your choice of Uni before you send off the form. You need to send the original and cannot be accepted by another university without the original CEF.

Phew!

Remember
Make sure you are happy with your choice, as it is very easy to rush into a decision just to ensure that you’ll be going to university in September. Take a look at choosing your uni or college to get it all clear in your head. Don’t get stressed and remember; thousands of students every year start off a happy university career through the clearing process.