FAQ

Clearing is how universities fill any places they have left on their courses for their upcoming September intake.

During the Clearing window, applicants can apply for a course through Clearing if they are not already holding an offer from a university or college, and the course still has places available.

Clearing opens 5 July 2025 and closes on 20 October 2025.

Note, some of our undergraduate courses in Clearing close in September 2025, so be sure to call our Clearing hotline to check.

The Clearing process allows you to find and apply for university courses that still have vacancies. It typically occurs after A-level results are released but you can still apply to universities through Clearing after 5 July. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how Clearing works:

Finding Course Vacancies

• You can find out what courses still have places by searching for your chosen university using the UCAS Search Tool

Check Your UCAS Track

• Use your UCAS Track to find your eligibility for Clearing and your Clearing Number – Universities will need this to access your application.

Prepare Your Documents

• Once you are in receipt of your results, you'll need to call your chosen universities, make sure you have the following to hand:
  • your exam results
  • UCAS ID number
  • Clearing number

Contacting Universities

• They’ll run through the entry requirements for the course you’re interested in, confirm if there are still places and answer any burning questions you may have.

Get all the Important Information

• If a university can offer you a place, they will give you their institution code and the course code for the degree you choose. You’ll need these to add your choice and accept the offer through UCAS.

Accepting Your Offer

• Once you have decided that you want to accept your place, enter the details provided by your university on to your UCAS Track using the ‘Add a Clearing Choice’ button. Once that’s done, your chosen university will confirm your place.

If you are applying for the first time, you’ll need to register via UCAS and make a full application including your personal statement. When you submit your application, you’ll receive a welcome email to access your UCAS Hub, where you will find your Clearing number. That’s when you can access Clearing’s services, including searching ‘my course subject’ or ‘location’.

You can only enter one Clearing choice at a time, but if a university doesn’t confirm your place, you can add another.

You can use Clearing if you meet any of the following criteria:

• You’re applying for the first time after the 30 June 2025.
• You didn't receive an offer when applying in the first UCAS cycle.
• You received offers, but none that you wanted to accept.
• You have exceeded your predicted grades and want to change your university or subject choice.
• You've changed your mind and declined your firm offer.
• You didn't meet the grades of your conditional offer.

There is no additional cost for Clearing in 2025.

You will have to pay a fee of £28.50 when you submit your application to UCAS for the first time, and Clearing is included in this fee.

Put together a list of universities you’re interested in attending and their Clearing contact details, this way you’ll be ready when the phone lines open. Head into Clearing with a positive attitude and don’t be nervous speaking to people on the phone, or to sell yourself. This is your opportunity to explain why your chosen university would be better with you in it.

Have your UCAS number ready and make a note of the phone numbers you will need once you have your results. It may feel a bit overwhelming on the day, so if you can have everything in front of you ahead of time, it will make all the difference.

Whilst you technically can apply for a Clearing place when abroad, we recommend that it's a time to be at home, use the phone and get that university place.

The UCAS website’s search function is comprehensive, giving you access to information and advice; you can access this search tool from the UCAS homepage. You can sign onto the site, save your searches and shortlist your favourite courses, as well as naming those searches to save time when logging back in to continue looking for that dream course.

However, if you were unsuccessful with your university application or are applying for the first time for a place through Clearing, you can also use UCAS Clearing Plus. Through Clearing Plus, UCAS will look at your original course choices, alongside your qualifications and grades and compare them to the courses available. Their team then matches your profile to the courses that could be perfect for you.

Even if you join us through Clearing, we will provide support to help you find suitable accommodation near your chosen campus ensuring you have a safe, comfortable place to live while you’re studying at The University of Law. Our team will also support you by providing useful information about the area, advice on private accommodation and you will have access to StudentPad which allows you to search for the perfect student accommodation in your chosen area.

If you’ve already gone through the Student Finance process, then you need to let them know of your change in circumstances when you go through Clearing. They’ll assess your application and inform you of any changes as quickly as they can.

If you haven’t applied for student finance yet, and would like to, you need to do so as soon as possible.

Applications take six weeks to be processed, so you might not get all your money straight away, but Student Finance will endeavour to provide initial funding as close to your course start date as possible.

You can get more information on Student Finance here.

We would love to see you and we're always running Open Days and site visits; these are a great way to find out more about each of our programmes and give you a feel for what it’s like to study with us.

You can arrange a visit, either face-to-face or virtually by viewing our upcoming events.

Absolutely, you will be able to apply through Clearing - just give us a call on 0800 009 3375. You will then need to fill out a UCAS late application form which can be found on the UCAS Clearing website.

The Clearing process allows you to find and apply for university courses that still have vacancies. It typically occurs after A-level results are released but you can still apply to universities through Clearing after 5 July. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how Clearing works:

Finding Course Vacancies

• You can find out what courses still have places by searching for your chosen university using the UCAS Search Tool

Check Your UCAS Track

• Use your UCAS Track to find your eligibility for Clearing and your Clearing Number – Universities will need this to access your application.

Prepare Your Documents

• Once you are in receipt of your results, you'll need to call your chosen universities, make sure you have the following to hand:
  • your exam results
  • UCAS ID number
  • Clearing number

Contacting Universities

• They’ll run through the entry requirements for the course you’re interested in, confirm if there are still places and answer any burning questions you may have.

Get all the Important Information

• If a university can offer you a place, they will give you their institution code and the course code for the degree you choose. You’ll need these to add your choice and accept the offer through UCAS.

Accepting Your Offer

• Once you have decided that you want to accept your place, enter the details provided by your university on to your UCAS Track using the ‘Add a Clearing Choice’ button. Once that’s done, your chosen university will confirm your place.

If you’re eligible for Clearing, your Clearing number will show under ‘application status’ in your application on the UCAS hub.

Log in to your UCAS hub and if your status reads 'You are in Clearing' or 'Clearing has started' then you are in Clearing. This is also where you’ll find your Clearing number.

First of all, keep calm. If you didn't achieve the grades you were expecting, or didn’t meet the advertised grades on our website, call our Clearing hotline on 0800 009 3375. One of our friendly advisors can review your final grades with you, discuss any course options available and any next steps.

However, you might not need to come through Clearing, even if your grades were lower than expected - so make sure to check your UCAS Hub first.

Due to the Data Protection Act, if anyone else calls on your behalf, we can only give them general information about Clearing - we can’t discuss your application with them. However, don’t be nervous about calling us - we’re here to help you, and you can always have someone with you for support when you call us.

Unfortunately not. There can be a lot of competition for Clearing places and you shouldn’t assume a course is not in demand. There are lots of reasons a place might still be open.

Yes, as long as you have already applied to universities through UCAS.

Even if you can’t sit an IELTS exam in time, there are alternative English Language exams available to you. You can view our undergraduate entry requirement to see what other qualifications we accept.

If you hold a Clearing offer with us, you may also be eligible to sit our internal English Language exam called the ULET.

Please note, you will need to have taken an acceptable English Language exam and had your results back prior to the course start date.

You won’t need to wait for your exam results, so you can search and apply for courses as soon as Clearing opens in July.

Our phone lines can get busy but please keep trying. We've got lots of friendly advisors ready to take your call when you get through.

You will be able to view a full Clearing vacancy list on the UCAS website. Keep an eye on this list as places will be added as they become available.

The grades you need to apply for a course are listed on our individual course pages, which you can find on the UCAS website whilst places are available.

However, if you don’t meet these entry requirements and you would like to study one of our courses, call our Clearing hotline on 0800 009 3375 to see how we can assist you. We will do all we can to help you and offer plenty of options to help students continue their education.

After calling our Clearing hotline (0800 009 3375), if we’ve made you a verbal offer, you will need to add the course as your Clearing option in the ‘Your Choices’ section on the UCAS Hub. You’ll be able to do this using the details we provide you.

We usually advise that you apply via Clearing for the current year entry and then tell us that you are looking to defer - then we can go about arranging an alternative start date.

You don’t have to accept your first offer - make sure you have done your research and know it is the right choice for you.

If you accept a Clearing offer but no longer wish to take that offer up, you can either self-release on the UCAS Hub, or get in contact directly with the university you hold the place with. They will then be able to release you back into Clearing so you have the flexibility to accept a new offer via the UCAS Hub.

We recommend you first discuss this with the university involved. If you still wish to decline your firm and insurance choices, you can release yourself into Clearing via the UCAS Hub. Once your status has changed and you are in receipt of a clearing offer, you will be able to add a Clearing choice.

We’ll likely give you an informal offer if you meet our requirements during the call we have with you, and we aim to process your Clearing application within 24 hours. You’ll then need to complete the rest of the process on the UCAS Hub.

The Admissions team will need to verify your qualifications, so we might contact you and ask you to provide these if we didn’t receive them directly from UCAS. We recommend that you get these to us at [email protected] as soon as possible so your place can be secured.

We will review your application and providing you’ve met all the requirements of your offer then we’ll confirm your place.

Sometimes this is possible, call our Clearing hotline (0800 009 3375) to discuss your situation and we will let you know.

Self-release

Self-release allows you to take yourself off your original UCAS choices and enter Clearing. Before, you had to contact your chosen university or college and wait to be released into Clearing, however applicants can now do this themselves.

Conditional offer

A conditional offer is an offer from a university that is dependent on what grades you get. These offers show the conditions you’ll need to meet to confirm your place. For most people, this means waiting for Results Day in summer to see if your exam results meet the conditions.

Confirmation

Confirmation of university and college places usually happens after students have received their results in the summer.

Firm choice

A firm choice is another way to say your first choice – the place you most want to go to. If you accept a conditional offer and meet the conditions, you’ll have a confirmed place here.

Insurance choice

An insurance choice is the choice you’d want if you didn't meet the conditions of your firm choice. If this is a conditional offer, you’d need to meet the conditions for your place to be confirmed.

UCAS Extra

UCAS Extra is another chance for you to gain a place at university or college. Signing on to Extra means that you can continue applying for courses in the next academic year, even if you’ve already used up your original five choices – as long as you applied through UCAS, and you’re not holding any offers or waiting for a decision on any of your initial five applications. If you still don’t have any offers when Extra closes, don’t panic because you can apply for a place at university through Clearing. Further information about UCAS Extra can be found here.

Clearing Plus

Clearing Plus is only available if you’re unsuccessful with your application or are applying for the first time through Clearing. You’ll be able to ‘view your matches’ in your UCAS Hub.

Informal offer

You might receive an informal offer over the phone from one of our advisors when you call to apply. Once you add this as your choice via UCAS and it has been processed, it becomes a confirmed offer.

Deferral

Deferral, or deferred entry, means applying for a course and then taking a year out before starting it.