What is Clearing? (And how does it work?)

What is Clearing?

Watch our video.

How does Clearing work?

Arianna and Jon explain what Clearing is, how it works and who's eligible.

What is Clearing?

Clearing is your chance to find a university place if you don’t have an offer. Apply through Clearing at the University of Kent to find the course to match your ambition.

Tools and tips

How does Clearing work?

Clearing lets you apply for courses with available places. Check UCAS, contact universities, discuss your options and get an offer. At Kent, we’ll guide you through every step find your place today!

How does Clearing work?

How to use Clearing

Make a note of when hotlines open

Every university will have different hotline hours during Clearing. Most will stay open for extended periods on results day, but make it part of your research to check their timings.

Check course vacancies regularly

Course availability will change quickly during Clearing, especially on results day. We update our course vacancies in real time, so make our website your first port of call. Bear in mind that popular courses fill quickly. It’s a good idea to have other options in mind when you start to make your applications.

Apply to universities and receive offers

Once you’ve checked your eligibility for a course, you can apply online or speak to one of our hotline operators. If you chose to call us, we’ll need to check that you meet the required grades for your chosen course. If you do, we’ll go ahead and take you through our Clearing application form and advise if you are eligible for an offer, or whether your application requires further review. If we can make you an offer via telephone, we will send you confirmation of this via email.

Tip: keep track of your offers and don’t overwhelm yourself. Although there’s no limit to the number of offers you can hold in Clearing, applying to loads of courses will make shortlisting even harder.

Guide for international students

But before you start...

Check that you're eligible

You're eligible to use Clearing if:

you applied through UCAS but didn’t receive any offers by 30 June
you’ve received unexpected exam results and need to look for alternative courses
you’ve had a change of heart since you applied to UCAS and want to explore other options
you didn’t meet the conditions of your firm or insurance choice
you haven’t applied through UCAS before.

and...

Don't forget to accept your offer

You’ll usually have 24 hours to accept a Clearing offer. So, once you’ve decided which one you’d like to accept, head to your UCAS Hub. Go to the ‘next steps’ section, select ‘add a Clearing choice’ and input the course details. By adding the course as a Clearing choice, you are accepting your offer.

If you are holding an offer elsewhere in UCAS you'll be able to self-release from Results Day to cancel your place. One done, you can accept another offer and add it as a Clearing choice on your Hub.

What next?

Find your place to call home.

Kent takes the pressure off finding a room in Clearing. We ask if you need accommodation as part of our Clearing application form - just select ‘yes’, and our accommodation team will get in touch with advice about the best option for you.

Everything you need to know about Clearing accommodation

Join us on Friday 14th August for a webinar where we will give you all the information you need about our accommodation and what living on campus has to offer.