Clearing advice for parents and guardians

Lots of schools will have teachers on hand to help during the Clearing process, but parents and guardians can also help ease the pressure
Male and female student smiling in graduation robes

What is Clearing?

Clearing is how universities fill places on their courses. You can apply to university through Clearing if:
  • You haven’t met the conditions of your offers
  • you haven’t made a UCAS application this year
  • you haven’t received any offers (or none that you want to accept).
 

Contact our Clearing call centre

If you’re worried about your results or you’d like to chat through your options, our fantastic team will be on hand to answer your questions.

Clearing call centre opening hours

Date Opening times
Thursday 14 August 08:00–21:00
Friday 15 August 08:00–20:00
Saturday 16 August 10:00–14:00
Sunday 17 August 10:00–14:00
From Monday 18 August the call centre will be open Monday to Thursday 09:00–17:00 and Friday 09:00–16:00.
 

On results day

Although lots of schools will have teachers on hand to advise, you can also help your child navigate Clearing.
  • Stay calm and positive. Your child may be disappointed but there are so many options out there for students going through Clearing, and there is still time to make a considered decision.
  • Make sure your child has any university correspondence and reference numbers to hand, including their UCAS reference number.
  • If your child has narrowly missed the required grades for their firm and insurance choice university, don’t panic. It is still worth ringing the universities to find out whether they can be offered an alternative course or what options they have available.
  • A lot of universities hold Clearing open days for students, considering attending one of these events with your child.
  • If your child is too upset to ring universities, you can do this on their behalf. Universities will need confirmation from your child that they are happy for you to talk about their application, this can be done over the phone or via email.

I basically hung around my son’s room and joined him (when I was allowed!). The key was to let him know I was showing an active interest in his research, and ultimately encouraging him to come to his own decision.

 

One parent’s 10 tips for other parents during Clearing

Parent Mark helped support his son to apply through Clearing last year. He tells us how the day looked for them and what his advice would be to parents.
  1. Do some further research on the universities and courses you have as offers
  2. Make a list of others that you might also consider in Clearing
  3. Look for student reviews and even live chats (not directly on their website)
  4. Just before Clearing, have links or open web pages for all the university course pages – get phone numbers and pre-register
  5. Make sure phones and laptops, etc. are all fully charged
  6. Check on anything important like clubs and societies, guaranteed accommodation, or halls policies and costs, and make a shortlist
  7. Speak to friends who are considering university to see what they’re researching
  8. See whether your child can talk to one of the lecturers or a student who is studying the subject they are interested in
  9. Double-check any reviews before accepting
  10. Ensure that your child has made a note of names and contact details and is clear on what they need to do next