What Clearing Looks Like in 2020
New Normal, New Dreams
You’ve worked hard, survived the stress of your final year at school. You thought you knew exactly what you wanted and were ready to spread your wings. Then coronavirus took us all by surprise. All of a sudden your future isn’t so clear anymore. You’re tackling the restrictions and uncertainties that come with the world-altering pandemic that sunk its teeth into life-as-you-dreamt-it. Does this mean that you are the unlucky generation of students who should put their dreams aside? Of course not. The clearing process allows you to create new dreams.
There is no doubt about it. The last few months have been challenging. A lot has changed. Maybe you won’t get the results you’re hoping for because of the algorithm. Maybe you were planning on taking a gap year, travelling and volunteering abroad. Maybe you have changed and are no longer so sure of the degree you chose in September. Or maybe you’re worried about missing out on the real university experience. What was once your dream university might now only be offering online classes and you are already sick of solely studying remotely. Because being on campus and meeting new people is as important a part of university as lectures, seminars and studying. Maybe you’d rather opt for a university where you’ll get a combination of online and face-to-face classes.
Thanks to the UCAS Clearing process, you have options and flexibility amid the moveable response to coronavirus to create new dreams and plan a new future.
What is clearing?
Didn’t receive any offers? Didn’t meet the entry requirements of your conditional offer? Don’t want to accept any of your offers because you’ve changed your mind? Or haven’t you applied to any universities yet? Then clearing is the next step for you.
Clearing is a win-win process for both universities and students. It matches university applicants to available places, helping universities fill up any open spaces they have and helping students find the best course for them. This is a perfect opportunity for you to re-evaluate your options and what you want.
This year UCAS clearing runs from 6 July until 23 October.
5 steps to your new dream
- Regularly check UCAS or the university website for any vacancies they may have.
- Make a list of universities and courses you might be interested in, together with their phone numbers and email addresses. This year UCAS created Clearing Plus – a tool that will suggest and match you to 50 courses you may be interested in based on your application and what universities are looking for in a student. This will make your life easier and help you find the perfect course much faster.
- Apply as soon as you have your results.
- Get ready to make that phone call. Think about what you are going to say beforehand. Why do you want to study that particular course at that particular university? Be ready to answer questions about your exam results, motivation and experience. Be sure to make the call yourself.
- While you are waiting to secure a place, start your search for your new home away from home in your chosen city.
Finding accommodation after clearing
After the change in direction, research, phone calls and deliberating involved in finding a university place through UCAS Clearing, it might be tempting to sit back and relax. But there is still one more hurdle to cross: accommodation. As with most big steps in life, finding an exciting, homey place to live is crucial. If you feel good about where you live, studying will be much easier too.
Private halls, like Nido Student, provide you with more than just a stylish room. We offer the security and support of a full time Nido team, so whether its day or night we’re always here if you need us. We’re ANUK accredited and fully Covid secure. This means we meet specific standards than ensure we keep you safe and secure. From extra cleaning in high traffic communal areas, cleaning and sanitising high touch items, floor stickers to ensure social distancing is possible and easy and hand sanitiser stations, we’re doing everything we can to make your home safe.
Plus our community has been kept together throughout the pandemic via our virtual events programme, virtual resident meet-ups and regular updates from us. You can join in with our virtual events programme on our Instagram page @nidotudent.
You room will be fully designed with student living in mind and lots of our Nido residences have social and study spaces so it really is more than just a room. All your bills are included, so no nasty surprises or extra payments to worry about. You can book in 5 easy steps and we would love to welcome you into the Nido community.
Some of our buildings are already sold out this year but we still have limited availability in: Birmingham ,Cambridge, Coventry,Edinburgh, Glasgow , Liverpool, London, Newcastle & Southampton
Sources:
https://www.ucas.com/events/2020-entry-clearing-opens-348886
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/results-confirmation-and-clearing/what-clearing/what-clearing-plus