Finding a Midwifery Course through Clearing
In case you don’t already know Clearing is the UCAS process of matching students without university places to universities with course vacancies. For many students Clearing is Plan B and a second chance to get into university when things have gone wrong with Plan A.
Clearing officially opens on A Level results day (17th August 2023) and you’ll have until September to find a university place. You can find a full list of important Clearing dates here.
You’ll be automatically entered for Clearing if you meet the following criteria:
- You applied for university after 30th June 2023
- You weren’t made any offers by the universities you applied to
- You haven’t yet applied for university
- You didn’t meet the requirements of the university that offered you a place
How to find Midwifery course vacancies
To make the Clearing process easier there are really only two places that you can look for course vacancies.
The most popular place to look is the UCAS website which has a full list of course vacancies and is regularly updated so you won’t suffer the disappointment of applying for a course that is already full.
You can also buy The Telegraph newspaper on A Level results day as this is the only newspaper in the country that publishes the full list of course vacancies. If you’re not sure how much internet access you’ll have when you collect your results it’s a good idea to pick up a copy of the paper to take with you.
If you have a particular university course in mind and they haven’t listed a course vacancy it could be worth phoning them directly. The most popular universities know that they’ll fill vacancies without needing to advertise so take the time to give them a call.
Applying for Midwifery
Medical related courses are some of the most popular courses available during Clearing so it’s even more important to be ready for action before Clearing officially opens.
Start researching back-up Midwifery courses now so you’ll have a shortlist ready before A Level results day. Try to look for courses that are similar to your first and second choices, but that may have slightly lower entry requirements.
Midwifery is a highly competitive course, especially during Clearing. For example, in 2013 Manchester University had around 5000 applicants for just 60 vacancies on their Midwifery course.
Unfortunately this means that many universities don’t enter Midwifery courses into Clearing because they already have a waitlist of students wanting a place. However, some top universities such as the University of West London have entered Midwifery courses during Clearing in the past.
We really cannot stress enough how important it is to be prepared before the phone lines open on results day. Remember you’ll need your results, your personal statement, and a few good reasons why you’d make a perfect Midwifery student.
You may also find that for medical related courses you’ll need to attend an interview, selection day, or taster event as part of the application process.
Luckily, we’ve got plenty of great Clearing advice to help you get through the process in one piece and start your dream university course in September.
