In the next couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of young people will be heading off to university. They’ll be bracing themselves for the wholesale regret that freshers’ week will undoubtedly precipitate, and possibly contemplating attending a lecture or two.
But among their number there will be some who got nothing like the requisite grades advertised on university websites, because clearing has radically changed the application landscape. Clearing shares certain features with the Grand National: tensions run high and chaos reigns as the starting gun sounds, and competitors jostle for position; a frenzied race ensues, and invariably there are a few casualties along the way. But increasingly, these casualties are few and far between, as clearing seems to mop up pretty much any leftover students, often with surprising placements.
For anyone unfamiliar with clearing, it’s the process whereby universities and other further education providers fill any places they have remaining before the courses begin. It opens officially in early July, but this is really only relevant for students who already have their results (such as those who took the International Baccalaureate), or who for whatever reason didn’t submit an application by the deadline at the end of January. The real clearing scramble kicks off at 8 a.m. on that fateful Thursday in mid-August when A-level students discover whether they’ve achieved the grades they need to meet their offers for classics at the University of Cambridge or football business at the University of Bedfordshire.
Until relatively recently, the academic opportunities afforded by clearing were distinctly limited, and students would really need to compromise often quite radically on their course or university, and often both. But the academic landscape has been changing. Universities are confronting increasing student numbers and serious financial challenges. The proportion of 18-year-olds going to university has essentially tripled in the past 50 years, and grown by nearly a million this century alone.
Cash flow is problematic for various reasons. There has been a sustained erosion in tuition fees as the cap has meant these have failed to keep pace with the costs of education. So the money universities get for each student is worth less year on year. Alongside this development, the lucrative international student market seems to be contracting a little. These students are particularly attractive to British universities as they pay up to four times the amount British students do. EU student numbers have been falling since Brexit, and 2023/24 saw an overall decline in the number of international students studying at British universities.
So these universities are pretty keen to get bums on seats. While some are still not in clearing (essentially, Oxbridge, Imperial, St Andrews and the LSE), most Russell Group universities are, and they increasingly have a significant number of places available across a broad range of courses. In 2023, there were 3,500 courses available at Russell Group universities – a year-on-year increase of just over 25 per cent. And there is even more choice for foreign students. Last year it was reported that Russell Group universities had 4,504 courses available to foreign students, compared with 3,883 for British students.
This year, places were available at King’s College London, Durham University, and the universities of Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Exeter and Bristol. And while aspirant medicine, law and dentistry students will find their options in clearing very limited indeed, there was a startling number of vacancies for subjects which would normally require top grades.
So clearing has become more than just a safety net for students who fail to make their grades. It has become an opportunity for students to switch courses or find a place at a more prestigious university than the one which had made them an offer through their original Ucas application. Indeed, these two categories accounted for a third of clearing users in 2024. This would seem to be an extremely positive development, allowing students the flexibility to change their minds and to stretch themselves academically.
But questions remain as to the academic competence of some of the students being placed through clearing at top universities. Over the past couple of years, I have seen some extraordinary placements, including many which make a mockery of the A-level exam system, as well as the Ucas university application process.
Students have swiftly worked out how to play clearing to their own advantage
One student I know is off to read history and politics at a Russell Group university which sits comfortably within the top 20 of the Times league table for 2025; he was asked for AAA and he got AAC. Another exchanged a place at a ‘plate-glass’ university where she had a place to read a social science degree with a BBB offer; she got BCD and not only did the original university agree to take her, but she actually traded up for a place at a top 30 Russell Group institution.
Students have swiftly worked out how to play clearing to their own advantage – and more power to them. The current cohort still bear the emotional and educational scars of Covid, so I am delighted that they are able to leverage the system in their own favour. One of the ways they can try to ensure a place at one of the more desirable universities is to sign up to a combined honours vacancy in clearing. One boy is off to a hugely popular Russell Group university to study economics. He was originally asked for AAA, got BBC, and was rejected. But he then spotted a vacancy in clearing for the same university’s combined honours degree which means he’ll combine economics with one other subject of his choosing from a list of over 20.
Modern foreign languages (MFL) often seem to be an easy route into a top university in clearing – possibly because fewer than 3 per cent of A-levels taken last year were in an MFL, and now more students take PE than take French, German, Latin and Greek combined. This year, a student found a place to read Spanish at a Russell Group university with a C in Spanish. The university in question would normally require ABB.
Another student had set his heart on studying at one of the University of London’s most sought-after component colleges. The degree he applied for usually requires A*AA, and he ended up with ABC. Yet he was accepted if he agreed to combine it with an MFL; he hadn’t taken languages at A-level and his result in his GCSE MFL was hardly indicative of any real linguistic competence.
Then there’s the student who had long dreamed of studying politics at a particularly popular Russell Group university. Having underperformed the first time, and got BCD, she re-took and was predicted AAA, and was duly offered a place at this particular university. She got the same overall grades but this time got a B in the subject in which she’d got a C previously. Using a combination of her original grades which meant she had BBC, the university agreed to take her to study politics if she agreed to combine it with any MFL.
Another compromise can be to sign up for a foundation year. This means that a degree will take an extra year, but upon successful completion of the foundation course, students automatically progress to the degree. A neurodiverse student I know is going to a University of London college to study computer science with UUU this autumn, and another student will read pharmacy at a Russell Group university with two pass grades.
We don’t yet know how these students will fare at university, and whether this relaxing of entry requirements for clearing applications will be sustainable. Universities will find themselves plummeting down the league tables if their graduates emerge with poor degrees and lacklustre employment prospects. AI will transform the job market for all but the most successful graduates from the very top universities, and a good many of the students who get lucky in clearing may simply be postponing disappointment.
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