Clearing 2025 - Advice for parents and carers

Your child may need to go through Clearing if they haven't received any offers from their chosen universities, if they didn't achieve the necessary grades for their conditional offers, or if they've changed their mind about their course or university choice. Clearing is also an option if a student applies after the UCAS deadline of 30 June.

Making an application through Clearing can feel like a lot, but it’s actually very straightforward. To start with, make sure they have their exam results to hand when they visit the websites of universities they are interested in, who will advise on how to make an application. Many universities have a dedicated team of call-handlers to deal with Clearing applications and will be on hand to answer any queries; others take applications online or via email too – so it’s worth taking a look at the various options. 

Not at all. Many students use Clearing every year, for many reasons – they’ve decided to apply to university after the UCAS deadline, they didn’t get the grades they needed for their chosen course, or they’ve changed their mind about what course they want to study.

Clearing is there to help these students find their ideal course. It doesn’t mean that the course they’re applying for is inferior, or that the institution is lower quality.

Most importantly, it doesn’t mean your young person has failed. There are many opportunities to be found through Clearing – some of our students who have come to us through Clearing have said it’s the best thing that happened to them as they found their dream course!

Hear from Euan about his Clearing experience

Hear from Beth about her Clearing experience

On results day, applicants should have the following items to hand:

• UCAS ID
• Qualification results
• A notepad and pen
• The phone numbers of their firm and insurance choice universities
• A fully-charged phone
• A laptop or second device

If their UCAS Track status is unsuccessful in their firm and insurance choices, they will automatically be placed in Clearing.

First, they should talk to their first choice or insurance university and see what advice they can give. If they then need to start looking at other universities, they should take a moment to think about the available options - what they'd like to study and where. Tell them not to panic and just take the first available course as there could be many other options out there.

We've put together a host of useful information about Clearing and how to apply through Clearing, especially if results received are not as expected.

Getting ready for results day

What happens on results day

Ultimate Clearing guide: Part 1

Ultimate Clearing guide: Part 2

If your child needs to speak to one of our Clearing team, they will need to make the call themselves, rather than a parent or carer.

Yes. We are offering guaranteed accommodation for anyone applying to Solent University through Clearing. To qualify for this, applicants must confirm their course place before 25 August 2025.

Take a look at accommodation options

Students should apply for finance as soon as possible and they do not need to have accepted a university place before applying. If they've applied for finance and then reapply for a different course or university through Clearing, they will need to update their application for finance. They can do this online and is very easy to do, they just need to sign into their student finance account and let The Student Loans Company know of the changes.

Read our guide about applying for student finance

As Solent is offering Clearing applicants guaranteed accommodation, our team will be in touch with more information about that. You’ll also need to ensure your child has their funding in place (see the question above for guidance).

We also recommend visiting us, especially if you’ve not been to a Solent open day before. We hold an open day specifically for those who have applied for and/or accepted a place at Solent through Clearing – this usually takes place on the Saturday immediately after results day. Check our open days page for more information and to book your place.