Advice for International Students Applying to University via Clearing

Studying in another country is becoming more popular every year. Unlike university places for UK students, which are strictly limited, international students often find there are more places open to them – especially at popular London universities.

Just like UK students you can apply to university through Clearing if you miss the deadline for applications or are not made any offers by a UK university before Clearing opens.

What is Clearing?

Clearing is the UCAS process of matching students without university places to universities with course vacancies. This process is of course open to students in the UK and to international students who are looking to study at a UK university.

How does Clearing work?

You are eligible to apply for Clearing as an international student if:

• You have not applied to university through UCAS at all. You’ll need to go no to the UCAS website and start the application process before applying to Clearing.
• You have made an application but do not have an offer from any British university. It doesn’t matter why you don’t have an offer; you are still eligible to apply through Clearing.

After you have registered and started the application process on the UCAS website you can use the log in details to check the progress of your application on the UCAS Track website.

Are the rules different for international students?

No, the rules of Clearing are the same for all students, regardless of their location when they apply.

You can only make one Clearing application at a time, so you’ll need to wait until you’ve been accepted or rejected before you make another application.

It’s up to you whether you accept or decline the place once an offer from a university has been made.

How to choose a university

Use the UCAS website after Clearing has opened to check the list of universities with course vacancies. Make sure you choose the international list as this will have move vacancies than the list for UK students.

You can then research suitable universities to apply to.