UCAS Extra And Clearing

UCAS Extra

If by mid-March you have not received any offers, or have rejected any offers you have been made, you can enter UCAS Extra. With this system you do not have to wait for clearing to start looking for a place. You will automatically receive an 'Extra Passport' from UCAS and with this you are able to contact institutions and make single applications. The full list of institutions which still have vacancies in mid March will be on the UCAS website.

It works like this: you can make one application to one course at one university at a time, and you have to wait for the outcome of that application before you can apply to the next one on your list, and so on, until either you are made an offer or clearing begins.

Clearing officially begins at the end of June, but if you haven't got a conditional offer by that time using the UCAS Extra, you're better off waiting until you get your results. Technically, you could still be made a conditional offer, but in practice, after this date most universities say wait until you get your results, and then call again.

So, it's results day, either you haven't got the grades required for your choices (and both your firm and insurance choices won't take you), or you've rejected the offers you had, or you never had any offers... don't panic! If your results are reasonable, and you're flexible about where and what to study, you have every chance of finding a course that suits you. Last year over 35,000 people found places through clearing.

For details of the clearing procedure click here