UCAS Results Day FAQs
Results day is drawing near, and as the first year in a while that had proper exams again, it will be strange. There are a lot of common questions I get asked about this, as UCAS is a complicated process and everyone’s scenario is different. For this week’s blog post, I have compiled a list of some of the most Frequently Asked Questions I get about results day. I hope this helps, and if you have a more specific question you need help with, please reach out to me through e-mail or any of my social media platforms!
1. I’ve got the grades I need for my firm choice, but I have changed my mind and want to go to my insurance instead. Is this possible?
Firstly, congratulations! The short answer is it may be possible, but not a guarantee. Your firm choice will have allocated a place in their course for you but not your insurance choice, as the universities receive your grades a few days before results day. The best way to give it a shot is to call up your insurance choice and ask them if they have any space on their course and are willing to accommodate you. Make sure to do this as soon as you can, as everything operates on a first come first serve basis now. You will have missed out on things like booking accommodation and things like that, so keep this in mind when making your decision. If you cannot get into your insurance choice now, but have decided you definitely want to go, another option is to take a gap year and reapply to that university, or ask them if they are willing to defer your place by a year. However, do not decline your place on UCAS track, as this will decline both your firm and insurance place! Make sure to speak to your insurance university first before doing anything.
2. I got lower grades than I was anticipating and did not get into my insurance or my firm choice, or, I got higher grades than I was anticipating and want to see if I can go to a different university.
Previously, UCAS had two processes called Clearing and Adjustment, but from this year onwards, students who would normally have gone through adjustment instead go through Clearing. This is when you decline your place at a university that you have got in to in order to search for places at other courses that may be available. Clearing Plus is slightly different - this is only available if you are unsuccessful in your UCAS application or are applying straight to clearing for the first time. It is essentially a search engine where UCAS matches you and your grades with courses that have spaces that you may be interested in based on what students in the past have gone on to study. It is imperative to move fast, as both run on a first come first serve basis. You may be asked to defer a year for a place, or can take a gap year and reapply to UCAS with your grades if you cannot find courses you want on Clearing or Clearing Plus.
3. I have received my grades and got into my firm or insurance, but no longer want to go to university.
You are able to decline a place at the university you got into, whether you do this to go through clearing or no longer want to go to university. You can do this by logging into your UCAS track and there should be an option there for you to decline your place. UCAS track will probably be very slow on results day due to the amount of people logging in to check their results, so perhaps waiting an hour or so if it is not urgent is the best choice.
I hope this has answered the main questions you may have, and as I said before, do not hesitate to get in touch if you have more questions. Good luck everyone!