With results day approaching on August 18, Laura Reid speaks to a student who secured a university place through the clearing process about how it worked for her.

Each year, tens of thousands of students across the country secure a place at university through the clearing process. In 2020, Emily Baker was one of them.

The 20-year-old, from Liverpool, didn’t get the grades she needed for her first choice university on results day.

She says her insurance choice - the University of Sheffield - had amended her offer to a course with a foundation year, but she was keen to do an integrated masters for her plant science degree.

Clearing: Calls are taken at the University of Sheffield during a previous results day. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA.

And so she embarked on the clearing process, which sees universities fill any places they still have on their courses.

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Reflecting on results day back in 2020, Emily says: “It was a blur at first. It was unexpected. Through Covid, I didn’t actually sit the exams to get the grades I had.”

Emily set about talking to a number of different universities she was interested in, when she received contact from her preferred University of Sheffield course about going through the clearing process to try to secure her place on the integrated masters.

Emily Baker, who went through clearing and secured a place at the University of Sheffield.

“That reassured me that they actually wanted me at the university,” she says.

Emily recalls how the university had conversations with her college to discuss extenuating circumstances and looked again at her application, personal statement and grades.

She received a place on the course and is now going into her third year.

To anyone using the clearing process this year, Emily says: “Stay calm. Regardless of what happens, there’s always going to be something out there for you and it will be okay...

“Sometimes you find something that’s better meant for you than what you originally planned.

“There’s no need to panic. Also, loads more people actually go through the clearing process than you think.

“On results day you can feel quite alone ringing up unis and talking to them - it can feel really daunting.

“But there’s so many people in the same boat and universities do want to see you succeed.”

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has a search tool which people can use to find course vacancies.

Its advice to students includes: “Consider different subjects – you don’t have to stick with your original idea. You could also look at joint honours courses, so you can study a mix of subjects.

“Keep checking – unis update their course information regularly. You might not find the exact unis/colleges/courses you were looking for – some might be full, but some might get vacancies later on.

“Check the course details – how is it structured each year? What modules make up each year? What are the entry requirements?

“Talk to any unis or colleges you’re interested in - Ask if they’d accept you – they might reconsider you (maybe for the same course) even if you applied to them earlier in the year.

“Get informal offers over the phone – maybe from a variety of universities and colleges – then decide which one you want to accept.”

By June 30, more than 683,650 applicants had made more than 3 million applications.

This year’s results day is on Thursday, August 18. For more information on clearing, visit www.ucas.com/clearing-launch

'How I secured my university place through clearing after results day'