UCAS Clearing 2024 – Biology
Waiting for your A Level results can be a stressful time, especially if you think you’re going to be entering Clearing to get your university place. However, Clearing doesn’t have to be stressful and it could be the chance you need to get into an amazing university.
Many top universities have course vacancies available during Clearing and if you’re open to suggestions about location and exact course you take, for example Biophysics and Biochemistry instead of Biology, then a world class university could still be an option for you.
What is Clearing?
In case you don’t know, Clearing is the UCAS process of matching universities with course vacancies to students without university places.
You’ll be automatically entered for Clearing 2024 if you meet any of the following criteria:
- You didn’t meet the requirements of your offers from your first or insurance choices
- You applied for university after 30th June 2024
- You weren’t made any offers by the universities you applied to
- You haven’t yet applied to university
Which universities to contact during Clearing
Most universities have places available during Clearing so if you’ve got your heart set on a particular university you might be in luck. As well as checking the list of course vacancies on the UCAS website you could also try contacting a university directly, especially if it’s one you’re very interested in.
The University of South Wales, Kingston University, and the University of Sheffield all had course vacancies for Biology during Clearing last year.
Take a look at our University Guides section for a full run down of every university in the UK.
How to be successful during Clearing
To be successful during Clearing it’s important that you have all the information you need and that you understand the process. Places for popular courses, such as Biology, are usually filled within the first week after Clearing officially opens – this year it’s 15th August 2024.
When you contact universities make sure you have your personal statement, exam results, GCSE results, and UCAS number to hand. You’ll need to give all of this information to the admissions tutor on the end of the phone.
If you can’t get through on the phone then send a short, polite email with all of the relevant details to the admissions tutors. Don’t forget to give them a contact phone number so they can get back to you about your application.
You’ll also need to be able to tell the admissions staff why you want to study your subject, in this case Biology, and why you want to study at this university especially.
Remember all of the important points in your personal statement. This could be work experience relevant to your future degree, for example in a hospital or pharmacy, any extracurricular activities that make you stand out, or what initially attracted you to the study of Biology.
The admissions tutor might also ask you what your career plans for the future are, so have a clear, concise answer prepared, even if you don’t really know what you want to do.
