A-Levels 2025: Don’t be daunted by Clearing - how to navigate the system

• Clearing helps match students up with universities that still have places available if they haven’t had an offer before A level results day

• There are thousands of university courses with places available this year

• Parents can find the process Clearing process daunting

• There are several steps students in Clearing need to take to secure a place – and it may include a phone interview

Many parents of children who have received their A level results today (Thursday, August 14) have no experience and don’t understand how the university Clearing process works.

But thousands of mums and dads may be about to help their children navigate Clearing if their sons and daughters haven’t received an offer of a university place.

Students across the West Midlands and Shropshire are picking up their results envelopes from their schools and colleges this morning, finding out - not only how they did in their exams - but also, for those planning to continue their studies, the outcome of any conditional university offers.

Unfortunately, as happens every year, some A level students will not always get the grades they were hoping for. 

But this doesn’t mean that university aspirations must come to an end. Each year, thousands of prospective students are matched up with courses with open spaces via the Clearing process. 

UCAS – the UK’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – says that there are more than 30,000 courses available for 2025.

As part of its Clearing guidance, the University of East Anglia recently surveyed 1,000 parents and carers of sixth-form-aged teens to discover how many felt comfortable offering support. It found that just 12% – or about one in eight – understood Clearing, while about one in five (21%) felt confident helping their children through the process. A similar number (20%) said their children felt unprepared to make decisions, with concern they would panic and make the “wrong” choice.

So how exactly can parents help with Clearing? What will their child actually need to do, and when do they have to take action? Here is what UCAS has to say, in case your child needs your support this year:

How do I enter my child into Clearing?

In most cases, you don’t actually have to. If an applicant doesn’t get the grades needed for any conditional offers they have, or if they applied after June 30, UCAS will enter them into Clearing automatically.

It will even try to match them up with available courses that match their study interests, which can be viewed by clicking the ‘My Matches’ button on your online application. But they’re not limited to those either – UCAS also has a search function (which you can find online here), and there will be thousands of courses across dozens of universities to choose from.

This means that students upset about their results can take some much-needed downtime, to talk it out with a supportive parent or friend. UCAS also recommends that they talk to an adviser at their school or college.

They’ve found a course they’re interested in – now what?

Once your child has found a new course that catches their eye, there are a few steps they’ll need to take to lock it in. First, they will need to reach out to the university to find out if they would consider them. The contact details for each university can be found by clicking through to its profile from the UCAS hub.

It’s usually best to give them a call, and they’ll likely have a dedicated team for this. Your child will need to do this themselves, but you can help by making sure they have their Clearing number (they can find this on their application), personal ID, grades, and the course code for the programme they’re interested in on hand before they ring.

If the university is happy with their grades, they will usually receive an offer via the UCAS hub relatively quickly. Although if they’re on the lower side, an academic staff member may call them back for an over-the-phone interview before deciding whether to send an offer.

Remember to tell your child there’s no need to panic over the call. The University of East Anglia’s associate pro-vice-chancellor for recruitment and admissions, Dr Charles Seger, said they had a friendly, helpful team on the end of the phone line, “talking students and their families through the whole process”.

“We know that students and their families often make decisions together about their education – starting university is a major milestone and lifestyle change for both the child and their parents or carers, so it’s only natural that all parties are involved,” he said. “That’s why we commissioned this research, to discover exactly what parents and carers are looking for in a university and to reassure them throughout the whole process.”

Once they’ve got the university’s approval, they can officially add them to their application by clicking ‘add Clearing choice’, and filling in the course details by the date the university gave you. This counts as accepting their offer – and you and your child are then free to start your preparations in earnest.

When do courses open for Clearing – and when does it end?

The good news is that Clearing is technically already open for students not holding any other university offers, UCAS says. This also applies to students who applied late, have declined their offers, or who might have changed what they want to study. It opened for the year back on July 5.

On results day itself, students wanting to add a Clearing choice can do so in their UCAS Hub from 1pm. While it’s a good idea to get onto it quickly before courses start to fill up, there’s no big rush – and your child has plenty of time to work out their next steps. Clearing doesn’t close until October 20 this year.