UCAS clearing
- HKSA admin
- Jul 30
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 14
As the A-level exams come to an end, and IB results day approaches, it is natural to worry whether you are able to meet their university offers. While not meeting them is definitely not the best outcome, it is not the end of the world, UCAS clearing can always be an option to provide you with another chance.
What is UCAS clearing?
Most universities usually do not fill up all their places by the time students confirm their final place at either their firm or insurance choices. UCAS clearing can be seen as the process that allows students who failed to meet their initial conditions to fill in those vacant places. You can imagine this as the ‘knock-on admissions’ common in Hong Kong primary and secondary school admission process. Universities will often release a list of courses with available places for students to apply through clearing, which can be found on both the UCAS website and the University websites.
For students who applied in the current 24/25 academic year, this year’s clearing will be opened from 5 July to 20 October. From July 5, UCAS applicants will be able to start researching Clearing courses. However, students can only apply after they have received their results, which would be 6 July for IBDP students, 5 August for SAQ students and 14 August for A-level students.
It should be noted that not every university offers clearing places. These would include Oxbridge and some other high-ranking ones. Moreover, competitive courses such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary generally are already over-subscribed with a waiting list, leaving no place for clearing.
Why Clearing?
The most direct answer is getting a second chance due to not meeting your initial offers. However, it is possible that from when you applied to recently, you became intrigued to study something else than what you applied to, or prefer another university over the ones you chose as your final choices. Some may have received a higher grade than predicted and then decide to apply to a higher-ranking university, or another course with higher requirements than they now meet through clearing.
It is a great opportunity to reconsider the universities that you applied to, got into, but declined when making your firm and insurance choices. This could be due to financial factors, preferring courses at those universities or simply preferring those universities over those you have chosen. Please read our previous article about choosing universities for further detail.
Who can apply for UCAS Clearing?
Students who failed to meet their initial offers
Students who did not receive any offers in the initial application, or did not accept any of their offers
Students who are applying after 30 June
Students who have declined their firm choices, ‘self-releasing’ themselves to Clearing
In 2023, out of the 67990 students who landed themselves a place through clearing, 32% fell into the last category of ‘self-releasing’, 30% fell into the first category, and the remainder did not have a firm choice or did not apply initially. From this data, I can be confident to say that clearing is not a bad thing, but rather as a chance that allows students to think through their university choices again.
The Clearing process
Rather than directly applying through UCAS like the initial process, students would need to ring universities up, with specific courses in mind, and inquire whether that specific university would be happy to have you fill in one of their vacancies. It is vital that students do it as soon as possible, as a lot of the higher ranking universities, or more competitive courses tend to have their places filled up quickly. Once you have received a positive response, you then go on the UCAS hub, input the details and secure your place. While there is technically only one official clearing application available on UCAS per applicant, if needed, you can ring as many universities as you want, until you receive a positive response.
Alternatively, you can utilise a tool called Clearing Matches. It would automatically provide you with 50 ‘matches’ to consider for clearing, according to your initial applications, vacancies, clearing entry requirements and previous data. Within those 50 matches, you can click the 'interested' button on any you are interested in. After that, universities you have expressed interest in can contact you for some questions or an interview.
During your call with universities, be sure to have your final exam grades, UCAS ID number and clearing number on hand, as these are likely the first thing you are asked about. After that, there will be an opportunity for you to discuss your situation, ask if your desired course(s) have vacancies available, and whether you will be eligible to apply for it. There is a possibility that by this point, you will have received a decision. However, it is possible that the university would interview you over the call, or arrange a more formal interview. The interviews could range from a couple of questions to see your suitability to the course, to a full-on interview.
How to prepare for your Clearing call?
Not meeting your offers could lead you to panic and ring up universities for clearing. However, it is very important to check your UCAS hub before doing so, to see whether your firm and/or insurance offers have been changed to ‘unconditional’. It is common for universities to still accept students who have narrowly missed their offer.
As mentioned before, make sure you have your UCAS ID number, Clearing number and your grades/UCAS tariff points on hand, as you will need to provide them to the university you are calling. Other than that, do make sure you have information on why you want to study at that specific university and course, alongside your relevant achievements. It is important to do some research beforehand.
Furthermore, make sure that where you are calling is quiet with a good phone signal. It would be a good choice to avoid school halls or public places and instead do it on your car if that is an available option.
Conclusion
Entering the Clearing process is very nerve-wracking, or even the idea of having to enter Clearing itself can come across as disappointing. However, with proper preparation, as well as having an open-minded attitude towards embracing this second chance (which could lead you to your perfect university), the entire process should be quick and smooth. Last but not least, good luck to all 24/25 UCAS applicants!
References
Foulds, Eleanor. “Guide to UCAS Clearing 2025.” Whatuni.com. Whatuni, July 7, 2014. https://www.whatuni.com/advice/clearing/university-clearing-complete-guide/41459/.
Manchester Metropolitan University. “Frequently Asked Questions about Clearing.” Manchester Metropolitan University, March 27, 2025. https://www.mmu.ac.uk/clearing/frequently-asked-questions#ai-57086-2.
Mosse, Tamsin. “Preparing for Your University Clearing Call.” Thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk. Complete University Guide, June 24, 2021. https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/final-choice/preparing-for-your-university-clearing-call.
UCAS. “Highest Number Ever of Students Accepted through Clearing.” UCAS, September 21, 2023. https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/highest-number-ever-students-accepted-through-clearing.
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