Thousands of students across Liverpool are set to receive their A-level grades on August 10, with many hoping they’ll have got the results they need to move on to university.
For the second year in a row exams for GCSE and A-level students were cancelled and replaced with grades given by teachers because of the pandemic.
The results day has been brought forward by two weeks to allow for students to have time to appeal their results, if needed, before the start of the new University term in September.
For those who didn’t get the grades they needed, and were unsuccessful in appealing their results, there is the clearing process. Here’s everything you need to know about the process ahead of results day.
READ MORE: Appealing GCSE and A-level results - all you need to know ahead of results day
What is clearing?
Clearing gives students a chance to enter university in places that have yet to be filled. It is open to people who have already applied to join an undergraduate scheme via UCAS and doesn’t currently hold any offers from universities.
Clearing offers opportunities in most fields of study in most university cities across the UK, with position made available due to people dropping out at the last minute or simply having a change of heart on what they want to study.
Find out more about your local area by dropping your postcode below:
How does it work?
Clearing opened on June 30 and you can apply to a course of study using it if you currently aren’t holding any offers, provisional or unconditional, from any other universities. If you’re waiting till after receiving results on August 12, you will need to make sure your place at your chosen university is not confirmed before applying to other places.
You will need to call the university that you are looking to apply to through clearing, to ensure that they still have places available on the course you want to study. You can only apply for one university at a time through clearing.
If the university you choose has places and offers you one, then you can add it to your UCAS account through Track.
Does it cost anything?
Not if you applied for more than one University in your original application. If you only applied for one choice in your initial application, you will need to pay an extra £5 to go through clearing.
What if I do better than expected?
If you exceeded expectations with your grades and you want to try and get into a better course of study than the one you had been planning to do, then you can do just that by following all the steps above.
Liverpool ECHO will be reporting from schools across Merseyside next week as students find out if they’ve got the results they need for their chosen universities. Keep your eyes peeled for our live blogs on August 10 and 12.
