Thinking of applying through Clearing?

Clearing is how universities fill any places that they still have available on their courses.

It's a great way to still enable you to go to university if you either changed your mind about applying to university, missed the January UCAS deadline or didn't meet the requirements of the offers you received after applying.

You can also use Clearing as a way of widening your options if you've changed your mind about what or where you want to study or didn't receive the offer that you wanted.

Clearing opens on 5 July and will run until the end of September. Once you know your results, you can apply for a course that still has spaces through Clearing during this time, but you must not be already holding an offer from a university or college (if you are, you can release yourself into Clearing, don't panic).

First and foremost, if you are thinking of applying through Clearing, ask you advice from an adviser at your current place of study or check out UCAS' website for more guidance. They can talk you through the process of Clearing and help you with researching the different courses that are available.

All universities will list on their websites details (including entry requirements that are often lower than normal) of the courses they have available in Clearing. Use these search tools to check and compare different courses to find ones that you would want to apply for. Remember, the courses in Clearing can constantly change, some might become full so will be taken off, some might be entered into Clearing later on in the process.

Next, you need to call the universities and ask if they would accept you on your course of choice. They will take you through their process of checking if you are eligible - this will involve providing them with your details and grades and hopefully an informal offer will be made to you! Please do not fear this stage - anyone you talk to on the phone will be friendly, nice, and will not pass any judgement. They want to help you come to their university.

Once you have an informal offer, it is then time to decide if you want to accept it - especially if you have rang more than one uni and have more than one offer! You can do this on your UCAS track by adding your Clearing choice.

We know that if you have applied through Clearing, you may not have necessarily visited the university or accommodation before. In order to help you, universities put on special events to allow you to visit and chat to them about various aspects, such as accommodation.

Oxford Brookes is holding an event on Saturday 6th August for all students who want an additional chance to visit our campuses - we'll update you with more information about this day soon, but if you have any questions, you can always email us at experiencebrookes@brookes.ac.uk and we'll be happy to help.